Flour, water, salt and a very small amount of yeast. Mixed on Monday, it is not worth eating until Wednesday, and the difference is not subtle.
The cold slows the yeast almost to a stop while the enzymes keep working. Starch becomes sugar, protein becomes something more elastic, and the dough that comes out on the second day stretches instead of tearing.
You can taste the time. A dough proved in four hours at room temperature tastes of yeast; one proved for two days in the cold tastes of wheat. Given ninety seconds over wood, only one of them is worth the oven.

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