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Ham Loaf

A baked loaf made from boiled ham, rice, cream sauce, breadcrumbs, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Ham Loaf

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

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

  1. Pass the ham and rice through a food chopper.

Mix and shape

  1. Add the cream sauce, bread crumbs, parsley, onion juice, salt, pepper, and paprika.

  2. If desired, add 1 tablespoon of table sauce.

  3. Beat the egg lightly and mix it in.

  4. Press the mixture into a well-greased baking pan.

Bake

  1. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes at 350°F (175°C).

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. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

  3. Parsley + oniontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

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

  4. Rice + oniontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,433 recipes

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

  5. Cream + saucetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,787 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Egg
Binds the mixture so the loaf holds its shape when sliced.
Bread crumbs
Absorb moisture and help the loaf hold together.
Cream sauce
Adds moisture and richness so the loaf stays tender.
Cold boiled rice
Adds bulk and a soft texture that lightens the loaf.
Cold boiled ham
Provides the main meaty flavor and body of the loaf.

The step that matters

Pressing the mixture into the pan. Packing the mixture too loosely lets the loaf crumble when sliced, while over-packing can make it dense. Pressing it evenly into a well-greased pan gives an even set and a clean release.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, rice, cream, sauce, bread, onion, pepper):

  1. Celeryfits better
  2. Garlicfits about as well
  3. Capersfits about as well
  4. Parsleythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, rice, cream, sauce, bread, onion, pepper. 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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