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Baked Ham in Old Virginia Style

A ham baked with vinegar, sugar, and cloves, then roasted until browned.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Vinegar and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 20,806 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Baked Ham in Old Virginia Style

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Rub the ham thoroughly with a rough towel and wash it.

  2. Soak the ham in cold water overnight.

  3. In the morning, place the ham in a large pot and cover it with boiling water.

Boil and cool

  1. Boil gently until the flesh separates from the end of the bone.

  2. Remove from heat and let the ham cool in the water.

  3. Remove the skin and wipe the ham with a fresh towel.

Glaze and bake

  1. Pour vinegar and sugar over the ham and stick cloves into the surface.

  2. Place the ham in a 400°F (200°C) oven until the sugar is brown, basting frequently.

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. Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  2. Vinegar + clovetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,386 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Ham + clovetop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,666 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).

  4. Ham + vinegartop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together737 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-methylbutanol (malty, whiskey).

  5. Sugar + clovetop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together17,182 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

Sugar and clove barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 17,182 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Ham
Provides the main meat; curing has already seasoned and preserved it.
Sugar
Caramelises in the oven, creating a brown, sweet glaze on the surface.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that balances the sweetness of the glaze and cuts richness.

The step that matters

Baking until the sugar is brown. Sugar darkens quickly at high oven heat, so it can burn before the glaze is set. Frequent basting keeps the surface moist and the browning even.

Swap the clove

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

  1. Cinnamonfits about as well
  2. Clovethe original
  3. Tarragonfits about as well
  4. Allspicefits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, vinegar, sugar. 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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