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Virginia Ham

A ham simmered in champagne, then finished with brown sugar and sherry.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Champagne and sherry share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 61 recipes. Both carry ethyl isobutyrate, which smells fruity, ethereal. The science ↓

Virginia Ham

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Soak the ham in cold water overnight to cover it completely.

  2. The next morning, scrape and clean the ham thoroughly.

  3. Place the ham in a pot and cover it with champagne, then simmer over low heat all day.

  4. In the evening, remove the ham and let it cool in the champagne overnight.

  5. The next morning, remove the skin from the ham.

Glaze and bake

  1. Cover the ham with brown sugar and pour a glass of sherry over it.

  2. Place the ham in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) to brown.

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. Champagne + sherrytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together61 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

  2. Ham + sherrytop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together377 recipes

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

  3. Sugar + sherrytop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,141 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

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

  5. Champagne + sugartop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together424 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Virginia ham
Provides the main cured meat that is softened and flavoured through the long soaking and simmering.
Champagne
Liquid that simmers and cools with the ham, adding moisture and a light aroma to the meat.
Brown sugar
Forms a sweet crust that caramelises and browns in the oven.
Sherry
Adds moisture and a sweet, aromatic flavour to the glaze as it bakes.

The step that matters

Simmering low and slow. Simmering gently over low heat keeps the liquid below a rolling boil, so the meat softens without toughening or drying out. Boiling hard can make the outer layers tough and stringy.

“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.

More virginia ham recipes

Baked 3Curing Method 3

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