Why it works: Ham and wine work together. They rank in the top 27% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 303 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓
Hams
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Soak the ham in wine.
Remove the rind from the ham.
Roast
Slowly roast the ham until well glazed.
Serve
Serve cold on a white napkin.
Coat and bake
Coat the ham with melted suet or coarse paste.
Slowly bake the ham.
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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Ham + winetop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together303 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ham
- The main cut; slow, gentle heat cooks it through while keeping it moist and tender.
- Wine
- Soaking flavours the meat and adds a little moisture before cooking.
- Suet or coarse paste
- A fat or dough coating that shields the surface and holds in moisture during baking.
The step that matters
Slowly roast the ham until well glazed. Low, steady heat cooks the meat evenly and keeps it juicy. Higher heat drives out moisture and toughens the outer layers before the centre is done.
“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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