Name: Chicken and Ham Pudding
Ingredients: 2 cups cooked chicken, minced; 1 cup cooked ham, minced; 1 lb pipe macaroni, broken into 1-inch lengths; 2 beaten eggs; 1 tablespoon butter; 1 cup gravy; Salt and pepper to taste; Hot water as needed

Why it works: Chicken and ham are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,497 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓

Chicken and Ham Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the macaroni

In a pot, add hot water to the reserved chicken broth and heat.
Cook the macaroni in the broth until tender, then drain.

Assemble and steam

In a bowl, mix the macaroni with minced chicken, ham, beaten eggs, butter, salt, and pepper.
Pour the mixture into a greased pudding mold with a tight lid.
Boil the pudding for 2 hours.

Unmold and serve

After boiling, dip the mold in cold water for 30 seconds.
Invert onto a hot dish and gently tap the sides to release.

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.

Chicken + hamtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,497 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Chicken + buttertop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together13,902 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Ham + buttertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,475 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
Chicken + peppertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together19,958 recipes

Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).
Ham + eggtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked 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

What each ingredient does

Eggs: Bind the mixture and set it firm as the pudding cooks.
Macaroni: Provides the bulk and body of the pudding.
Chicken: Adds savory protein and meaty texture throughout the pudding.
Ham: Contributes salty, savory flavor to the mixture.
Butter: Adds richness and fat for a softer, moister texture.
Gravy: Adds moisture and savory flavor to the pudding.

The step that matters

Dip the mold in cold water before inverting. A brief cold dip cools and slightly firms the outer surface and pulls the pudding away from the mold walls, helping it release cleanly. Tapping the sides loosens it further, so the pudding holds its shape on the dish.

“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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Chicken and Ham Pudding