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Baked Ham

A ham baked with a mustard and brown sugar glaze, spiced with cloves and cooked in vinegar and water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Mustard and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Baked Ham

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the ham

  1. Parboil the ham three times.

  2. While the ham is still hot, stick whole cloves about an inch apart on both sides.

Make and apply the glaze

  1. In a bowl, combine the beaten egg yolk, mustard, and enough brown sugar to make a thick paste.

  2. Spread the mixture on both sides of the ham and let it stand for several hours.

Bake and serve

  1. About 30 minutes before serving, place the ham in an earthen baking dish with the water and vinegar.

  2. Turn the ham several times and baste frequently, adding more water if necessary while baking.

  3. Serve the gravy with the ham.

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. Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Mustard + clovetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,829 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  3. Ham + mustardtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together747 recipes

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

  4. Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Clove + vinegartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,386 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Ham
Is the main piece of meat that is parboiled, studded, glazed and baked.
Egg yolk
Binds the mustard and brown sugar into a thick paste that clings to the ham.
Brown sugar
Sweetens the paste and helps it caramelize and brown during baking.
Mustard
Adds sharp flavor that balances the sweetness of the brown sugar.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the flavor of the ham and the gravy.

The step that matters

Basting while baking. Turning and basting keep the surface moist and help the glaze brown evenly. Adding water when the dish runs dry prevents scorching and keeps the gravy from burning onto the pan.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, egg, mustard, sugar, vinegar):

  1. Capersfits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Allspicefits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, egg, mustard, sugar, vinegar. 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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