Name: Creole Ham
Ingredients: 1 slice of ham, 2 inches thick; 1 onion, sliced; 1 green pepper, chopped; 1 can of tomatoes

Why it works: Pepper and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,923 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Creole Ham

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

1 slice of ham, 2 inches thick
1 onion, sliced
1 green pepper, chopped
1 can of tomatoes

Directions

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

Prepare

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Place the ham slice in a baking pan.
Top the ham with the sliced onion and chopped green pepper.
Cover everything with the can of tomatoes.

Bake

Bake for 1 hour.

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.

Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,923 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + tomatotop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,633 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together68,474 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ham + oniontop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,159 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
Ham + tomatotop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together348 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

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

What each ingredient does

Ham: Provides the meaty base that the vegetables and tomatoes season as it bakes.
Onion: Adds savoury sweetness and aroma as it softens in the cooking juices.
Green pepper: Adds fresh, slightly sharp vegetable flavour and some texture.
Tomatoes: Add acidity and liquid that keeps the ham moist as it bakes.