Why it works: Bread and butter 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 Sandwiches
Ingredients
Directions
Mince the ham very finely, including the fat with the lean.
Mix in a small amount of made mustard.
Spread the mixture on buttered white bread.
Cut off the crusts from the bread unless it is very soft.
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.
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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,536 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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Ham + mustardtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together747 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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Mustard + breadtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,484 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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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
- Ham
- Provides the savory meat base, and its fat keeps the minced filling moist.
- Made mustard
- Adds sharp flavor that cuts through the richness of the ham and fat.
- White bread
- Forms the sandwich structure and holds the filling.
- Butter
- Adds richness and flavor to the bread.
The step that matters
Mix in a small amount of made mustard. Mustard is strong and its sharp flavor can quickly overpower the ham. Adding only a little lets the meat flavor stay balanced while still giving a clear bite.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, bread, butter):
- Onionfits about as well
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Leekfits about as well
- Mustardthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against ham, bread, butter. 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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