Why it works: Ham and syrup work together. They rank in the top 44% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Standard Sweet Pickled Hams
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Prepare the ham by cutting it short and rounding the butt.
Cut the shank off above the hock joint to expose the marrow.
Ensure the hams are uniform in size, averaging not more than 16 pounds each.
Pack and pickle
Pack 300 pounds of hams in a tierce with 22 pounds of coarse sea salt.
Add 3 quarts of good syrup and 12 ounces of saltpetre.
Fill the tierce with water or sweet pickle.
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.
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Ham + syruptop 44% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ham
- Forms the meat that the salt and cure penetrate and firm up.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws out moisture and preserves the meat while seasoning it.
- Good syrup
- Adds sweetness and balances the harshness of the salt.
- Saltpetre
- Helps the meat keep its pink colour and adds to preservation.
The step that matters
Packing the hams with salt. Salt must reach evenly into every part of the ham, so uniform sizing and thorough packing matter. Uneven packing lets some pieces spoil or cure unevenly, while the salt draws out moisture and slows bacterial growth.
“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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