Why it works: Ham and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 33% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,516 recipes. Both carry phenylacetaldehyde, which smells hawthorne, honey. The science ↓
Baked Ham
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Remove the outer skin and shank from the ham.
Mix flour with cold water to form a stiff dough.
Roll out the dough, place the ham in the center, and pinch the dough around it like a turnover.
Bake and cool
Bake the ham for 4 hours in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C).
Leave the dough on the ham until it cools.
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 + flourtop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,516 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ham
- Forms the main body of the dish, cooked gently inside its protective dough casing.
- Flour
- Combined with cold water to form a stiff dough that encloses the ham and holds its shape.
- Cold water
- Hydrates the flour so it forms a workable, stiff dough.
The step that matters
Leave the dough on the ham until it cools. Keeping the dough sealed around the ham while it cools helps retain moisture inside the meat as it sets. Removing it too early can let juices escape and dry the ham.
“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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