Why it works: Clove and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Pickle for Hams
Ingredients
Directions
Make the brine
In a large pot, combine saltpetre, sugar or molasses, ground cloves, allspice, pepper, and coarse salt with cold water. Boil the mixture for 30 minutes.
Cure the hams
Pour the hot or cold brine over the hams.
Rub the hams with a little salt and let them sit for 24 hours to draw out moisture.
Submerge the hams in the pickle and let them cure for 6 weeks.
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.
-
Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,874 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
-
Allspice + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,395 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Sugar + allspicetop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,938 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
-
Sugar + clovetop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together17,182 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Sugar and clove barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 17,182 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
- Saltpetre
- Acts as a curing agent that helps preserve the meat and sets its pink colour.
- Sugar or molasses
- Adds sweetness that balances the strong salt and spices.
- Coarse salt
- Draws moisture out of the meat and carries flavour into it while curing.
- Ground cloves
- Adds warm, aromatic flavour to the brine and the cured ham.
- Allspice
- Contributes a warm, aromatic flavour that rounds out the brine.
The step that matters
Keep the hams fully submerged for the whole cure. Salt and curing agents move into meat slowly and only from the surface. Any part left out of the brine will cure unevenly and may spoil, so the hams must stay covered for the full six weeks.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, allspice, pepper):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Clovethe original
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Gingerfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, allspice, pepper. 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.
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.