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Ham Sauce

A sauce made by mashing ham and simmering with gravy, herbs, and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,971 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Ham Sauce

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the ham

  1. Beat the thin slices of lean ham with a rolling pin until mashed.

  2. Put the mashed ham into a saucepan with ½ cup of gravy.

Simmer the sauce

  1. Set the saucepan over low heat and stir continuously to prevent sticking.

  2. After some time, add a bunch of sweet herbs, ½ pint of beef gravy, and some pepper.

  3. Cover the saucepan and let it stew over gentle heat.

  4. Once done, strain the sauce.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Ham + beeftop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,729 recipes

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

  3. Ham + peppertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Lean ham
Gives the sauce its meaty flavour and, once mashed, some body.
Beef gravy
Forms the savoury liquid base and adds moisture and body to the sauce.
Sweet herbs
Adds a gentle aromatic flavour to the stewing liquid.

The step that matters

Stir continuously over low heat. The mashed ham and gravy can settle and scorch on the base of the pan. Constant stirring at low heat keeps solids suspended and prevents sticking and burnt flavour.

“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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