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Ham Tartlets

A pastry dish of ham, butter, béchamel sauce, paprika, and eggs in puff pastry crusts.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,338 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Ham Tartlets

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the filling

  1. Pound the ham in a mortar until smooth.

  2. Gradually add the butter and béchamel sauce, mixing well.

  3. Rub the mixture through a fine sieve.

  4. Season with paprika and incorporate the yolks and whipped whites of the eggs.

Bake and serve

  1. Fill the half‑baked puff pastry crusts with the mixture.

  2. Bake in a slow oven at 300 °F (150 °C) for 10 to 12 minutes.

  3. Serve hot.

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. Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together15,338 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Ham + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,475 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  3. Ham + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,526 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Ham + saucetop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,314 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Butter and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Lean cooked ham
Provides the main savory body of the filling once pounded smooth.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth, silky texture to the filling.
Béchamel sauce
Adds moisture and creaminess so the filling holds together smoothly.
Eggs
Yolks enrich and whipped whites lighten and help the filling set when baked.

The step that matters

Rub the mixture through a fine sieve. Sieving breaks up any remaining ham fibres and lumps, giving the filling a smooth, even texture that bakes evenly and sets without a grainy finish.

“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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