Name: Polenta-bread Ob Bolls
Ingredients: 1 pint polenta; 4 cups all-purpose flour; ¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt; 2 teaspoons solid yeast (or ½ ounce German yeast); 1 pint warm milk (or slightly more if needed); 1 ounce butter (optional)

Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Polenta-bread Ob Bolls

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

1 pint polenta
4 cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt
2 teaspoons solid yeast (or ½ ounce German yeast)
1 pint warm milk (or slightly more if needed)
1 ounce butter (optional)

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the dough

In a large bowl, blend 1 pint of polenta with 4 cups of all-purpose flour and ¼ teaspoon of coarse sea salt.
Dilute 2 teaspoons of solid yeast (or ½ ounce of German yeast) in 1 pint of warm milk. For added flavor, dissolve 1 ounce of butter in the warm milk before mixing.
Gradually add the milk mixture to the flour mixture to form a dough that is firm but not hard.
Cover the dough with a cloth and let it rise until light.
Knead the dough thoroughly, then let it rise again.

Shape and bake

Divide the dough into large rolls or small oval loaves and place them on a floured baking sheet, spaced apart.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Polenta: Adds coarse corn texture and a slightly grainy crumb to the bread.
All-purpose flour: Provides the gluten network that gives the dough its structure.
Solid yeast: Produces gas that makes the dough rise and become light.
Warm milk: Hydrates the flour and activates the yeast while adding softness and moisture.
Butter: Adds fat for richness and a softer crumb, and extra flavor.

The step that matters

Let the dough rise until light. The yeast needs time and warmth to produce enough gas to lighten the dough. Under-proofed dough bakes up dense, while the structure built by kneading holds the risen gas in place.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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Polenta-bread Ob Bolls