Why it works: Potato and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,340 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Curing Hams
Ingredients
Directions
Cure
Hang up the hams for a week or ten days, keeping them sweet.
Mix for each good-sized ham: one teacup of salt, one tablespoon of molasses, one ounce of salt-petre.
Lay the hams in a clean dry tub.
Heat the mixture and rub it well into the hams, especially around the bones and recesses.
Repeat the process once or twice, or until all the mixture is used.
Let the hams lie two or three days.
Put them for three weeks in brine strong enough to bear an egg.
Soak eight hours in cold water.
Dry and smoke
Hang up to dry in the kitchen or another convenient place for a week or more.
Smoke from three to five days, being careful not to heat the hams.
Use corn cobs and apple-tree wood for smoking.
Smoke with the hock down to retain juices.
Store
Tie up carefully in bags for the summer.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Potato | 1 medium (173g) baked | 161 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Mustard | 1 tsp (5g) yellow | 3 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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.
-
Potato + mustardtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,340 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Egg + mustardtop 28% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,210 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
-
Egg + potatotop 29% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,978 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Salt-petre
- Cures the meat and helps keep its color and preserve it during long curing.
- Salt
- Draws out moisture and seasons the meat, helping preserve it during curing.
- Molasses (in the method)
- Adds sweetness and flavor to the cure and aids browning during smoking.
The step that matters
Smoke without heating the hams. Smoke should flavor the meat at low temperature. Excess heat can cook the ham unevenly and dry it out, while low smoke keeps the meat moist and tender.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, mustard):
- Horseradishfits better
- Chivefits better
- Shallotfits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, mustard. 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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