Why it works: Ham and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,526 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Ham and Eggs
Ingredients
Directions
If using raw ham, soak it as directed previously. If cooked, slice it evenly.
Fry the ham slices in their own fat until the fat is clear and curling.
Keep the ham warm on a hot platter.
Break the eggs one by one into the hot fat left in the pan.
Cook the eggs for three minutes. For turned eggs, cook for two minutes, then carefully turn each egg and cook for one more minute.
Serve one egg on each slice of ham.
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.
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Ham + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,526 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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