Name: Boned Ham
Ingredients: 1 ham; water; bread crumbs; herbs; grated crackers; brown sugar; white wine

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 ↓

Boned Ham

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Soak the ham in water overnight.
Boil the ham until tender, then let it cool.
Carefully remove all the bones from the ham.
Make a stuffing with bread crumbs and season with herbs.
Fill the space in the ham with the stuffing.
Cover the ham with grated crackers and a little brown sugar.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 1 hour, basting with white wine.
When done, place the ham between 2 large dishes under a heavy weight.
Cut the ham across like beef tongue when cold.

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 + white winetop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together827 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Ham + white winetop 24% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together312 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
Sugar + white winetop 30% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,586 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Bread + sugartop 32% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together8,638 recipes

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