Why it works: Rye and molasses work together. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 804 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Rye and Indian Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the dough
Scald the Indian meal by pouring just boiling water over it until wet.
Add rye meal or flour, molasses, salt, baking soda, and yeast.
Mix with warm water until thick enough to stir with a spoon.
Let the mixture rise overnight.
Bake
Transfer to a baking tin and let it stand for 30 minutes.
Bake at 300°F (150°C) for 4 to 6 hours.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
-
Rye + molassestop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together804 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Indian meal
- Forms the bulk of the loaf and absorbs water to create a moist, dense crumb.
- Rye meal or flour
- Adds earthy flavor and body to the dough, giving a denser texture than wheat flour.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness and dark color, and helps the crust brown during long baking.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the molasses's acidity to produce gas that lightens the dense batter.
- Yeast
- Ferments the dough during the overnight rise, producing gas and flavor.
The step that matters
Scald the Indian meal. Pouring boiling water over the cornmeal gelatinizes its starch, so it softens and absorbs water evenly. Adding it cold or unevenly can leave dry pockets and a gritty texture.
“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.
You might also like
Cornbread345 recipes
Bread Pudding336 recipes
Milk Bread Rolls242 recipes
Potato Bread124 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.