Why it works: Sauce and ham are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and 1,313 recipes mention both. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Prepare Mojo Sauce ahead of time.
Set aside 2 cups of the sauce for serving.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Place ham in a shallow roasting pan.
Score a diamond pattern about 1/8‑inch thick into the upper surface of the ham.
Insert a clove at the crossed points of the diamonds.
Brush the ham with mustard.
Sprinkle the ham with brown sugar.
Pour 1 cup of Mojo Sauce over the top.
Bake and baste
Bake in the center of the heated oven for 2 hours or until an instant‑read thermometer inserted in the thickest portion (not touching bone) registers 140°F (about 15‑18 minutes per pound).
Baste every 20‑30 minutes, alternating with 1/4 cup white wine and remaining Mojo Sauce.
Rest and serve
Transfer ham to platter.
Let stand 15 minutes.
Slice and serve with the reserved 2 cups of Mojo Sauce and Papaya Salsa.
This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Sauce + hamtop 11% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together1,313 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sauce + mustardtop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together2,120 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Ham + mustardtop 6% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together747 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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Clove + mustardtop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together3,164 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
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Clove + white winetop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,071 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Bone-in ham
- Provides the main meat, which is cooked gently until it reaches a safe, tender serving temperature.
- Brown sugar
- Sugar caramelizes on the surface in the oven, adding sweetness and browning to the crust.
- Dijon mustard
- Adds sharp acidity and flavor, and helps the sugar coating adhere to the ham.
- Dry white wine
- Adds acidity and moisture to the basting liquid, keeping the surface from drying out.
- Mojo sauce
- Its garlic and citrus acidity flavor the meat and add moisture during basting.
The step that matters
Baste on schedule and monitor the internal temperature. Ham is already cooked, so the goal is to heat it through without drying it. Basting adds moisture to the surface, while a thermometer shows when the thickest part reaches the target temperature, preventing overcooking.
Flavor stand-ins for the papaya
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sauce, ham, clove, mustard, sugar, white wine):
- Applebetter flavor fit
- Grapebetter flavor fit
- Lemonbetter flavor fit
- Papayathe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sauce, ham, clove, mustard, sugar, white wine. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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