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York Ham, 'with Champagne

A boiled ham finished in a champagne and stock sauce, garnished with vegetables.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Peas and spinach work together. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 550 recipes. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓

York Ham, 'with Champagne

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderately hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderately hot oven”. The 350°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Cook the ham

  1. Cook the ham as directed in York Ham, To Boil.

  2. When three-quarters done, remove the skin and place the ham in a long stewpan.

  3. Moisten with stock and half a bottle of dry champagne.

  4. Let this boil, then cover the stewpan and set it in a moderately hot oven (350°F / 175°C) to finish cooking, basting often.

Make the sauce and serve

  1. Ten minutes before serving, take the ham from the gravy, strain it, skim off all the fat, and add a little glaze to the liquor.

  2. Reduce this quickly until thick enough.

  3. Garnish the ham with vegetables and serve the sauce separately.

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. Peas + spinachtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together550 recipes

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

  2. Champagne + peastop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

  3. Ham + peastop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together402 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  4. Ham + champagnetop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together45 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

  5. Ham + spinachtop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together144 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Ham
Main cut that is cooked slowly until tender and carries the dish.
Dry champagne
Adds acidity and aroma to the cooking liquor, flavouring the sauce as it reduces.
Stock
Provides the moist cooking liquid that keeps the ham from drying out in the oven.
Glaze
Adds sweetness and gloss to the liquor, helping it thicken and brown as it reduces.

The step that matters

Reducing the sauce quickly. Boiling the strained liquor fast concentrates its flavour and thickens it through evaporation. If it is reduced too slowly or too long, it can turn overly salty or sticky once the glaze is concentrated.

Swap the spinach

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

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Asparagusfits better
  3. Cucumberfits better
  4. Spinachthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, champagne, peas. 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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