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Ham Hash

A fried mixture of mashed potatoes, chopped boiled ham, and eggs served with macaroni.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Ham and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,526 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Ham Hash

Ingredients

Directions

Make the hash

  1. Combine equal parts of mashed potatoes and finely chopped boiled ham.

  2. Mix in several well-beaten eggs.

Cook and serve

  1. Fry the mixture in a large flat cake shape until golden brown.

  2. Serve with macaroni.

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.

  1. Ham + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,526 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Potato + hamtop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together127 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

  3. Potato + eggtop 29% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,978 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Mashed potatoes
Provides the bulk and soft starch that holds the hash together while frying.
Boiled ham
Supplies the savory, salty flavor and firm meaty bite of the hash.
Eggs
Bind the potato and ham mixture so it holds its shape and sets when fried.

The step that matters

Frying the flat cake until golden brown. The egg binder sets as it heats, and the surface browns through the Maillard reaction. Cooking it too gently leaves the cake soft and crumbly, while high heat can scorch the outside before the centre is hot and firm.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, egg):

  1. Asparagusfits better
  2. Mustardfits better
  3. Leekfits better
  4. Potatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, egg. 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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