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Yeast for Hot Climates

A yeast starter made with hops, water, salt, sugar, flour, and potatoes, left to ferment for several days.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 92,116 recipes. Both carry phenylacetaldehyde, which smells hawthorne, honey. The science ↓

Yeast for Hot Climates

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the liquid

  1. Boil the hops in the water for 30 minutes.

  2. Strain the mixture and let it cool to lukewarm.

  3. Add the salt and brown sugar.

  4. Mix the flour with some of the liquid until smooth.

Ferment

  1. On the third day, add the boiled and mashed potatoes.

  2. Let it stand overnight.

  3. Strain the mixture and it is ready for use.

  4. Stir frequently while making and keep it near a warm place.

Use and store

  1. Before using, stir well.

  2. It will keep for two to three months in a cool place.

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. Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

  2. Flour + potatotop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,355 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Sugar + potatotop 30% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Hops + flourtop 32% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together10 recipes

    Shared aroma: eugenol (clove, spicy).

  5. Hops + potatotop 39% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3 recipes

    Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).

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

What each ingredient does

Hops
Add bitterness and help slow spoilage in the starter.
Potatoes
Supply starch that the yeast can feed on, adding body to the starter.
Brown sugar
Feeds the yeast and adds sweetness and molasses flavor.
Flour
Provides starch for the yeast to ferment and thickens the mixture.

The step that matters

Keep it near a warm place. Yeast activity depends on warmth, so a cool spot slows fermentation and a warm spot speeds it up. Stirring frequently helps distribute the yeast and sugars evenly while it works.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (hops, sugar, flour):

  1. Mustardfits better
  2. Arrowrootfits better
  3. Parsnipfits better
  4. Potatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against hops, sugar, flour. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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