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Roast Ham

A ham wrapped in a stiff dough, baked with wine and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Ham and sherry work together. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 377 recipes. Both carry 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol, which smells smoky, clove. The science ↓

Roast Ham

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the ham

  1. Wash and scrape the ham carefully, then soak it in cold water for 24 hours.

  2. Scrape again and dry thoroughly.

Wrap and bake

  1. Make a dough with 2 quarts of flour and enough water for a stiff paste.

  2. Roll the dough into a sheet large enough to wrap the ham.

  3. Fold the ham in the dough and place it on a meat rack in a dripping pan.

  4. Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 6 hours.

Finish and serve

  1. After baking, remove the paste and skin, sprinkle with fine crumbs, and return to the oven for 30 minutes.

  2. Dust carefully with cayenne pepper and baste every 5 minutes with the wine mixture.

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

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

  2. Sherry + peppertop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,107 recipes

    Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).

  3. Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together50,459 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Flour + sherrytop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,643 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Ham + peppertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,058 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 subject of the dish, cooked slowly so it becomes tender and heated through.
Flour
Forms the stiff paste that encloses the ham, protecting it and holding in moisture while it roasts.
Claret
Wine mixture used for basting, adding moisture and flavour to the surface as it cooks.
Sherry
Adds sweetness and aroma to the basting mixture, deepening the flavour of the outer layer.

The step that matters

Basting with the wine mixture. Basting every 5 minutes keeps the exposed surface moist and helps it brown evenly, while the wine adds flavour; opening the oven often lets heat escape and slows cooking.

“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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