Why it works: Flour and buttermilk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,721 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Winter Rolls
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Combine the flour in a large bowl.
Scald the buttermilk and mix the lard into it.
Pour the buttermilk and lard mixture over the flour, beating well.
Add the cold water and yeast to the mixture.
Set the mixture in a warm place to rise overnight.
In the morning, add salt and enough flour to form a moderately stiff dough.
Knead the dough.
Let the dough rise again.
Knead the dough down.
Store and bake
Place the dough in a large stone crock or bowl, covered tightly to prevent drying.
Store the dough in a cool place.
When ready to bake, turn out the dough onto a floured surface.
Take a piece of dough as large as desired.
Roll the dough out to the thickness of ordinary soda biscuits.
Cut the dough into pieces.
Bake the pieces immediately.
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 + buttermilktop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,721 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
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the dough that holds the rise and the shaped rolls.
- Yeast
- Produces gas during the long rise, leavening the dough so it becomes light.
- Buttermilk
- Adds moisture and acidity that softens the dough and enriches its flavour.
- Lard
- Adds fat that tenderises the dough and contributes to a rich crumb.
The step that matters
Storing the dough tightly covered in a cool place. Covering the dough prevents it from drying and forming a crust, while cool storage slows yeast activity so the dough keeps without over-rising or souring before baking.
“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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