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1
Place the maize flour in a large bowl. Pour the boiling water over it in one go and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until a thick, cohesive paste forms. Leave to cool until barely warm to the touch — if the paste is still hot it will kill the leavening.
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2
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and leave for five minutes until slightly foamy. Add it to the cooled maize paste along with the salt and mix well to combine.
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3
Add the rye or wheat flour and work the mass together firmly — it will be heavy, sticky, and nothing like a conventional bread dough. This is where the dish lives or dies: the maize flour must have been fully scalded and gelatinised before this stage, or the resulting crumb will be grainy and dry rather than moist and tight. Work until the dough holds together as a single, dense, slightly tacky mass.
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4
Shape the dough into a taut round ball (bola) directly on a floured surface or in a floured proving basket. Cover with a cloth and leave to prove until the dough has visibly swelled and the surface shows fine surface cracks — the dough will not double in the manner of a wheat loaf.
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5
Heat the oven to 220 °C. Turn the dough onto a floured baking tray or hot baking stone. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes: the crust must be deep brown, almost dark, and sound hollow when the base is tapped — a pale crust indicates the loaf is underbaked and the crust, which is the bread's structural element, has not properly formed.
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6
Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely before cutting. The crumb firms and the crust sets as the loaf cools; cutting early tears the tight crumb.