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 ↓
Sam Welleb Hash
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Chop the ham and veal into large pieces.
Place the meat in a pot and add cold water and seasoning.
If desired, thicken the mixture with a little bread crumbs or flour.
Cook and bake
Simmer slowly for a long time until cooked through.
Transfer the mixture to a baking pan and cover with a light crust.
Bake until the crust is golden brown.
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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Ham + vealtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,264 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Veal + breadtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,056 recipes
Shared aroma: cis-3-hexenol (green, grassy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ham
- Provides the main savory, cured meat flavor of the hash.
- Veal
- Supplies the bulk of the meat and a mild, tender texture after slow simmering.
- Bread crumbs or flour
- Thickens the cooking liquid so the mixture holds together rather than running loose.
The step that matters
Simmer slowly until cooked through. Slow simmering in cold water lets the meat cook evenly and become tender; rushing with high heat can toughen the proteins and leave the centre underdone.
“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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