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Glazed Ham

A ham coated with a crumb and egg glaze, baked until browned.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Ham and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,526 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Glazed Ham

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the ham

  1. Soak and boil the ham for 20 minutes per pound.

  2. Let it cool in the water.

  3. Remove the skin neatly.

Glaze and bake

  1. Coat the ham with a paste made from cracker crumbs, milk, beaten eggs, and pepper.

  2. Bake in the oven until the glaze is browned, moistening with cream occasionally.

Garnish and serve

  1. Wrap frilled paper around the shank and garnish with pastry.

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.

  1. Ham + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,526 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Milk + peppertop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together26,984 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  5. Ham + creamtop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,370 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Ham
Is the main cut that is cooked, glazed and served.
Cracker crumbs
Absorb the milk and eggs to form a paste that thickens into a coating.
Milk
Moistens the crumbs and helps form a smooth, spreadable paste.
Beaten eggs
Bind the crumb paste and help it set and brown as it bakes.
Cream
Adds moisture and fat to the surface, helping the glaze stay soft and brown evenly.

The step that matters

Bake until the glaze is browned, moistening with cream. Dry heat can scorch or dry the crumb and egg coating before it browns. Brushing on cream adds moisture and fat, which helps the surface colour evenly without burning.

“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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