Name: Ham Triangles
Ingredients: Biscuit crust; Minced ham (or other meat); Stock or warm water; Milk (for brushing); Egg yolk (for brushing, optional); Tomato sauce, brown sauce, or cream sauce (for serving)

Why it works: Milk and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,226 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓

Ham Triangles

Oven, in the book's wordsA rather hot oven

Ingredients

Biscuit crust
Minced ham (or other meat)
Stock or warm water
Milk (for brushing)
Egg yolk (for brushing, optional)
Tomato sauce, brown sauce, or cream sauce (for serving)

Directions

The book says “a rather hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Roll the biscuit crust thin and cut it into rounds or squares.
Place a spoonful of minced ham or other meat on each piece, moistened slightly with stock or warm water.
Wet the edges of the crust, fold, and press them closely together.
Brush the tops with milk or a mixture of egg yolk and water.
Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) until golden.
Serve with a brown, cream, or tomato sauce.

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.

Milk + tomatotop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,226 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Biscuit + tomatotop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together105 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Ham + eggtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,526 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Biscuit + milktop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,332 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together88,785 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).