Why it works: Flour and rye match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,320 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Lunch Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the dough
In a large bowl, combine the flour, lard, cornmeal, milk, rye flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder.
Knead the dough well until smooth.
Shape and bake
Divide the dough into five equal pieces and shape them into long loaves.
Place the loaves just touching on a shallow square pan.
Brush the tops with milk.
Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) until golden.
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.
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Flour + ryetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,320 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + ryetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together918 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, 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
- Flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the loaves together as they bake.
- Lard
- Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and carries flavour.
- Cornmeal
- Gives the bread its characteristic grainy texture and corn flavour.
- Milk
- Moistens the dough and adds softness, and browns the tops when brushed on.
- Rye flour
- Adds a deeper, earthy flavour and a denser crumb than wheat flour alone.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the loaves rise and become lighter.
The step that matters
Kneading the dough well until smooth. Kneading develops gluten in the wheat flour, giving the dough enough structure to hold its shape. Under-kneaded dough can crumble or bake up dense, while the rye flour adds little gluten to help.
“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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