Why it works: Clove and mace are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,400 recipes. Both carry methyleugenol, which smells clove, spice. The science ↓
Boiled Ham
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Wash the ham carefully, removing any rust or mold with a stiff scrubbing brush.
Place the ham in a large pot and cover it with cold water.
Add the bay leaf, cloves, mace, sugar, and sweet hay if using.
Cook
Heat the water gradually, ensuring it does not boil for at least two hours.
Simmer gently for 15 minutes per pound of ham.
Allow the ham to cool in the cooking liquid, keeping the skin on until completely cold.
Brown and serve
Brush the ham with beaten egg and coat it thickly with bread crumbs.
Brown the ham in a 400°F (200°C) oven.
Garnish with a frill of paper around the bone and serve with watercress or 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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Clove + macetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,400 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
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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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Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Ham + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,526 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Clove + breadtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,129 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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 that is slowly cooked, then browned for a crisp finish.
- Sugar
- Adds a little sweetness that balances the savory, salty flavor of the ham.
- Bread crumbs
- Form a crust that browns in the oven, adding crispness and texture to the outside.
- Egg
- Acts as a binder so the bread crumbs stick evenly to the ham's surface.
The step that matters
Heat the water gradually and keep it from boiling. Gentle heating keeps the meat tender and juicy. Boiling toughens muscle proteins and can make the outside tough and dry, so the ham should simmer slowly.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, clove, sugar, egg, bread):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Allspicefits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against ham, clove, sugar, egg, 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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