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A Ham Garnished

A ham cooked and garnished with fine bread crumbs and a paper frill.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Ham and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,536 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓

A Ham Garnished

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the ham

  1. Choose a sweet ham; check by inserting a sharp knife near the bone.

  2. Soak the ham in cold water for 24 hours if very dry and salty; otherwise, 8 to 12 hours is sufficient.

  3. Wash the ham thoroughly and trim off any rusty or smoked parts.

Cook

  1. Place the ham in a pot and cover it with cold water.

  2. Bring the pot to a boil, skimming off any scum.

  3. Simmer gently until tender, ensuring it does not boil too quickly.

Finish and serve

  1. Remove the ham from the pot, strip off the skin, and sprinkle with fine bread crumbs.

  2. Add a paper frill around the knuckle and serve.

  3. If serving cold, let the ham cool in the water to retain juices.

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. Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,536 recipes

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

  2. Bread + parsleytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,588 recipes

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

  3. Ham + parsleytop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,249 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

Ham
Is the main protein; its cure and fat content shape flavour and juiciness during simmering.
Fine bread crumbs
Form a dry coating on the warm ham surface, adding texture and a light crust.

The step that matters

Simmer gently until tender. Boiling vigorously toughens the meat's proteins and can make the outside tough and dry before the centre is tender. A slow simmer cooks the ham evenly and keeps it juicy.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, bread):

  1. Marjoramfits about as well
  2. Clovefits about as well
  3. Celeryfits about as well
  4. Parsleythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, bread. 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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