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Bread

Norwegian Health Bread

A barley and flour bread baked with milk and baking powder.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Barley and flour work together. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 582 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Norwegian Health Bread

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

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.

Make the batter

  1. Sift together the barley meal, graham flour, salt, and baking powder.

  2. Mix into a firm batter with the milk.

Bake

  1. Pour into a greased pan.

  2. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 40 minutes, covering with greased paper for the first 20 minutes.

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.

  1. Barley + flourtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together582 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Barley + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together598 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity).

  3. Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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

Barley meal
Forms the bulk of the dry base, giving a dense, hearty crumb.
Graham flour
Adds bran for a coarser texture and a nutty, wholesome flavor.
All-purpose flour
Its gluten gives the batter structure so it holds together while baking.
Baking powder
Releases gas in the oven, causing the bread to rise.
Milk
Hydrates the flours into a firm batter and adds moisture and browning.

The step that matters

Covering with greased paper for the first 20 minutes. The cover slows surface browning and holds in moisture while the batter rises and sets. Leaving it off early can dry or darken the top before the centre is cooked through.

“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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