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Ham, Roasted

A ham roasted with Madeira wine, carrots, onions, and peppercorns.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Carrot and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 21,601 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Ham, Roasted

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Soak the ham until softened.

  2. Place the ham in a deep pan and pour the wine over it.

  3. Add the chopped carrots, onions, and peppercorns.

  4. Turn the ham every 2-3 hours and let it marinate overnight.

Roast and serve

  1. Drain the ham and place it before a clear fire.

  2. Baste liberally with the marinade every hour.

  3. Roast for 4-5 hours, depending on size.

  4. Once done, remove the skin and glaze the ham.

  5. Boil the remaining gravy and serve in a tureen.

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. Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Ham + oniontop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,159 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  3. Wine + carrottop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,271 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-sec-butyl-2-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  4. Wine + oniontop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,784 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Ham + carrottop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,918 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Ham
Is the main cut of meat that is softened, marinated, and roasted until tender.
Madeira or light wine
Forms the marinade that flavours the ham and adds acidity and aroma during basting.
Carrots
Add sweetness and body to the marinade and the gravy that is later boiled down.
Onions
Add savoury depth and body to the marinade and the gravy that is later boiled down.

The step that matters

Basting with the marinade every hour. Regular basting keeps the surface moist while the ham roasts for hours, and the liquid's sugars and proteins help the exterior brown. Letting the surface dry out can leave the ham tough and dry.

Swap the carrot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, wine, onion):

  1. Tomatofits better
  2. Potatofits better
  3. Mustardfits about as well
  4. Carrotthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, wine, onion. 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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