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Potted Ham

Ham preserved in clarified lard after baking.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Potted Ham

Why it works: Mace and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,557 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Potted Ham

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the ham

  1. Mince the ham, fat, and lean together in the specified proportions.

  2. Pound the mixture well in a mortar, seasoning it with cayenne pepper, powdered mace, and nutmeg.

Bake and pot

  1. Transfer the mixture into a deep baking dish.

  2. Bake for 30 minutes.

  3. Press the mixture into a stone jar.

  4. Fill the jar with clarified lard.

  5. Cover the jar tightly.

  6. Seal it with a piece of thick paper.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Mace + nutmegtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,557 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Nutmeg + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Mace + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,257 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  4. Ham + peppertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,058 recipes

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

  5. Ham + macetop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,050 recipes

Mace and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,257 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Lean ham
Provides the main meat flavour and the firm, sliceable body of the potted mixture.
Fat
Adds richness and moisture, keeping the minced meat soft and spreadable once cooled.
Clarified lard
Forms a sealed top layer that excludes air and helps the potted ham keep.
Powdered mace
Adds warm, aromatic spice flavour that complements the meat.
Nutmeg
Contributes warm, aromatic sweetness-spice notes that deepen the seasoning.

The step that matters

Press the mixture into the stone jar. Packing the mixture firmly removes air pockets, and the lard layer must fully cover it, since air exposure lets the meat spoil and turn rancid.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, nutmeg, pepper):

  1. Clovefits better
  2. Allspicefits better
  3. Marjoramfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, nutmeg, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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