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 ↓
Boiled Ham
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Soak the ham in cold water for 12 hours.
Scrape the ham well and trim off any excess fat.
Place the ham on a cloth, skin side up, and tie the corners together.
Cook
Put the ham in fresh cold water and bring to a boil, skimming as needed.
Cook gently for 3 hours, then leave it in the water until nearly cold.
Finish and serve
Remove the cloth and skin, then sprinkle the ham with bread crumbs.
Once completely cold, add a frill around the knuckle end and garnish with parsley.
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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Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,536 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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Bread + parsleytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,588 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Ham + parsleytop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,249 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ham
- Is the main cut being cooked, so its size and fat determine the cooking time and final texture.
- Freshly-made bread crumbs
- Sprinkled on the surface to add a light, dry coating and a crisp, textured finish.
The step that matters
Cook gently for 3 hours. Gentle simmering keeps the water below a hard boil, so the meat cooks evenly and stays tender rather than tightening and drying out.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, bread):
- Marjoramfits about as well
- Clovefits about as well
- Celeryfits about as well
- Parsleythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against ham, bread. 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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