Name: Buckwheat Cakes with Yeast
Ingredients: 3 pounds buckwheat flour; 3 pints water; 2 ounces compressed yeast, dissolved; 2 tablespoons coarse sea salt; optional: syrup for color; optional: 1-2 handfuls cornmeal

Why it works: Buckwheat and flour work together. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 660 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Buckwheat Cakes with Yeast

Ingredients

3 pounds buckwheat flour
3 pints water
2 ounces compressed yeast, dissolved
2 tablespoons coarse sea salt
optional: syrup for color
optional: 1-2 handfuls cornmeal

Directions

In a pan, make a hole in 3 pounds of buckwheat flour.
Pour in 3 pints of water, 2 ounces of dissolved yeast, and 2 tablespoons of coarse sea salt.
Mix slowly to create a light batter without lumps.
Gather the sides together, cover with a cloth, and let it rise in a warm place overnight.
The next morning, gently mix the batter before baking.
For better color, add a little syrup to the batter before baking.
You can also mix in 1-2 handfuls of cornmeal if desired.

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.

Buckwheat + flourtop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together660 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + syruptop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,540 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Buckwheat + syruptop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together52 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).