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Ham Patties

Ham patties are baked with a rich dough crust and a creamy gravy over boiled ham.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Ham Patties

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a slow oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Prepare a rich dough for the crusts and line patty pans with it.

  2. Fill the pans with the cold boiled ham pieces.

Make the gravy

  1. In a frying pan, melt some butter and add flour to make a roux; let it brown.

  2. Gradually add enough cream to achieve your desired thickness, then season with salt and pepper.

  3. Pour the gravy over the ham and cover with a top crust.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until the crust is well done.

  2. Serve immediately, or enjoy it cold or warmed in a 300°F (150°C) oven.

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. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Ham + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,475 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  4. Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together50,459 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Flour + creamtop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together30,481 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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

Rich dough
Forms the crust that encloses the filling and holds its shape during baking.
Cold boiled ham
Provides the savoury, meaty filling of each patty.
Butter
Adds richness and carries flavour when melted for the roux.
Flour
Thickens the butter into a roux that gives the gravy body.
Cream
Adds moisture and richness, thickening the gravy into a smooth sauce.

The step that matters

Browning the roux. Letting the butter and flour roux brown develops a nutty, deeper flavour. Cooking it too briefly leaves a raw floury taste, while over-browning can turn it bitter.

“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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