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Christmas Ham

A ham soaked, boiled, and baked with an egg, brown sugar, and breadcrumb coating, finished with sherry.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Ham and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,536 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓

Christmas Ham

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Soak the ham in cold water overnight.

  2. Boil the ham in cold water until tender.

  3. Remove the skin from the ham.

Coat and bake

  1. Mix the beaten egg, brown sugar, and bread crumbs or cracker dust together.

  2. Spread the dressing over the ham.

  3. Place the ham in a baking pan and pour the sherry over it.

  4. Baste the ham until the wine is absorbed and the top is well browned.

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. Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

  2. Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

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

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

  4. Bread + sherrytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together682 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  5. 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

Ham
Is the main cooked meat, softened by soaking and boiling before baking.
Beaten egg
Binds the crumbs and sugar into a dressing that clings to the ham.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the top caramelise and brown during baking.
Bread crumbs or cracker dust
Forms the crumb coating that holds the dressing on the ham's surface.
Sherry
Adds aroma and moisture while basting, and its sugars aid browning.

The step that matters

Baste until the top is well browned. Basting keeps the surface moist while the sugar and proteins in the coating brown. Too little basting can leave the top pale or dry, and too much can soften the crust.

“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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