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A ham baked with brown sugar, cloves, sherry, vinegar, and molasses.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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Why it works: Ham and meat match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and 1,095 recipes mention both. Both carry 3-methylbutanol, which smells malty, whiskey. The science ↓

The recipe

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Prepare the ham

  1. Scrub and cleanse the ham.

  2. Soak the ham in cold water overnight.

  3. In the morning place the ham in a large kettle and cover with cold water.

Cook the ham

  1. Bring the water slowly to the boiling point.

  2. Gradually add the molasses, allowing 18 minutes for each pound.

  3. When the ham is done, remove it from the stove and allow it to become cold in the water in which it was cooked.

  4. Remove the ham from the water.

Glaze and serve

  1. Skin the ham and stick cloves (about 1 1/2 dozen) over it.

  2. Rub brown sugar into the ham.

  3. Put the ham in a roasting pan and pour over sherry and vinegar.

  4. Baste continually and allow it to warm through and brown nicely.

  5. Serve with a garnish of glazed sweet potatoes.

  6. Caramel from the ham is served in a gravy tureen.

  7. Remove all greases from the same.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Ham + meattop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,095 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-methylbutanol (malty, whiskey).

  2. Clove + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together13,144 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  3. Sherry + winetop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together219 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  4. Sherry + vinegartop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together660 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

  5. Wine + vinegartop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together2,385 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

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

What each ingredient does

Ham
Is the main meat, cooked slowly in liquid and then glazed until browned.
Molasses
Adds sweetness and dark color to the ham's surface during cooking.
Sherry wine
Adds acidity and aroma to the pan liquid around the ham.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that balances the sweetness of the glaze and pan juices.

The step that matters

Allow the ham to cool in its cooking water. Letting the ham cool slowly in its liquid keeps the meat moist and tender, because rapid temperature change tightens muscle fibers and squeezes out juices.

“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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