Ham Sandwiches, Plain

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. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together27,232 recipes

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

2. Bread + hamtop 7% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together2,536 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

3. Ham + mustardtop 14% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together747 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

4. Bread + mustardtop 16% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together1,484 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

5. Butter + hamtop 16% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together5,475 recipes

   Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

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

What each ingredient does

Bread

Forms the structure that holds the filling together and gives the sandwich its body.

Butter

Adds fat and richness, and coats the bread to help keep it from soaking up moisture from the filling.

Cold boiled ham

Provides the savory, salty filling and the main protein of the sandwich.

Swap the mustard

The recipe marks mustard as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, butter, ham):

1. Onionfits about as well
2. Asparagusfits about as well
3. Leekfits about as well
4. Mustardthe original

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