Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Ham Noodles
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Prepare the noodles according to your preferred recipe.
Boil the noodles in lightly salted water.
Butter an earthen dish generously.
Assemble
Layer the noodles and chopped ham in the dish, using about 1 pint of ham and a little more noodles.
In a bowl, beat the eggs with the sweet cream.
Pour the egg and cream mixture over the layered noodles and ham.
Top with a thin layer of grated bread crumbs and small lumps of butter.
Bake
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until golden brown.
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.
-
Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,536 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
-
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
-
Ham + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,475 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Bind the cream and set into a custard that holds the casserole together.
- Sweet cream
- Adds richness and moisture, so the noodles and ham stay tender as they bake.
- Ham
- Supplies the savory flavor that runs through the noodles and custard.
- Noodles
- Form the body of the casserole, soaking up the custard as it bakes.
- Bread crumbs
- Form a crisp top layer that browns in the oven.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and helps the topping brown.
The step that matters
Pour the egg and cream mixture over the layers. The egg and cream must reach all the noodles and ham so the custard sets evenly. Beating the eggs fully into the cream first keeps the mixture smooth and evenly distributed when it bakes.
“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.
You might also like
Brown Bread461 recipes
White Bread80 recipes
Bread Omelette60 recipes
Oatmeal Bread51 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.