Why it works: Ham and oyster work together. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 360 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓
Plain Gumbo Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the broth
In a pot, combine the ham and veal with 2 quarts of cold water.
Simmer slowly for 2 to 3 hours.
Add 2 quarts of boiling water.
Finish and serve
Twenty minutes before serving, add the okra and oysters.
Season to taste.
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.
-
Ham + oystertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together360 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
-
Ham + vealtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,264 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Okra + oystertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together71 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Veal + oystertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together988 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
-
Ham + okratop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together139 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ham
- Adds smoky, savory flavor to the broth as it simmers.
- Veal
- Adds body and richness to the broth through gelatin released during long simmering.
- Okra
- Adds body and thickening to the gumbo as it cooks.
- Oysters
- Add a briny, delicate seafood flavor to the finished gumbo.
The step that matters
Adding the okra and oysters twenty minutes before serving. Oysters cook quickly and turn tough and rubbery if overcooked, so they should go in late. Okra also needs only a short cook to stay tender while still thickening the broth.
Swap the okra
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, veal, oyster):
- Shallotfits better
- Cucumberfits better
- Onionfits better
- Okrathe original
Fit is the average pairing score against ham, veal, oyster. 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.
More gumbo recipes
You might also like
Veal Patties50 recipes
Mock Oyster Soup21 recipes
Beef, Mutton, or Veal Broth6 recipes
Corn Fritters6 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.