Name: Baked Slice of Ham
Ingredients: 1 slice of ham, 1½ inches thick; buttered bread crumbs; 1 onion, very thinly sliced; 1 cup rich cream

Why it works: Ham and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,536 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓

Baked Slice of Ham

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

1 slice of ham, 1½ inches thick
buttered bread crumbs
1 onion, very thinly sliced
1 cup rich cream

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

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Place the slice of ham in a small baking dish.

Assemble and bake

Cover the ham with buttered bread crumbs.
Spread the thinly sliced onion over the meat.
Pour the rich cream over the top.
Bake for 50 minutes.

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.

Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,536 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Bread + oniontop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,676 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ham + oniontop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,159 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
Onion + creamtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together10,827 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
Ham + creamtop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,370 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

Onion and cream barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 10,827 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

Ham: Forms the main meat base that the other layers rest on and cook with.
Buttered bread crumbs: Form a crisp, golden topping as they brown in the oven.
Onion: Adds savory sweetness and aroma as it softens under the cream.
Rich cream: Adds moisture and richness, keeping the ham from drying out as it bakes.