Why it works: Ham and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,475 recipes. Both carry trans-2-decenal, which smells waxy, orange. The science ↓
Broiled Ham
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the ham
Cut the ham into thin slices.
If the ham is too salty, soak it in hot water, then dry it with a cloth before broiling.
Cook and serve
Broil the slices over hot coals until cooked.
Fry the eggs in equal parts lard and butter.
Place an egg on each slice of ham and serve.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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 + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,475 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Ham + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,526 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ham
- Provides the main savory, salty meat that the dish is built around.
- Eggs
- Fried and placed on top of the ham to add richness and moisture.
- Lard
- Fat used for frying the eggs, adding flavor and preventing sticking.
- Butter
- Fat used with lard for frying the eggs, adding flavor and browning.
The step that matters
Soaking a salty ham. Soaking draws out surface salt so the slices are not overly salty once broiled. Drying them thoroughly afterward matters because surface moisture would steam rather than char over the coals.
“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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