Why it works: Sugar and apple are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,478 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Baked Ham
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a very slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the ham
Parboil the ham slice.
Trim off the fat and grind it.
Spread the ground fat over the ham and cover it with brown sugar.
Prepare the apples
Season the cored apples with sugar and spices.
Bake and serve
Place the apples in the pan with the ham and add a few tablespoons of water.
Bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) for 50 minutes.
Cover the ham to prevent it from browning too quickly.
Leave the apples uncovered.
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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Sugar + appletop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Ham + appletop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together108 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Ham + sugartop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,084 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Sugar and apple barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 16,478 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ham
- Main protein; parboiling and slow baking keep it tender while it cooks through.
- Brown sugar
- Sweetness and browning on the surface of the ham as it bakes.
- Apples
- Sweet, tart flavour that balances the salty ham and softens during baking.
- Ground ham fat
- Fat spread over the ham that adds richness and moisture to its surface.
The step that matters
Covering the ham. Sugar on the ham browns and can burn quickly in an oven. Covering the ham slows surface browning so the interior can heat through gently while the sugar stays intact.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, sugar):
- Vanillafits about as well
- Applethe original
- Figfits about as well
- Pineapplefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against ham, sugar. 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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