Why it works: Thyme and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓
Boiled Ham
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the ham
Soak the ham in cold water for 12 to 24 hours.
Cover the ham with boiling water and add vinegar, bay leaves, thyme, and parsley.
Boil slowly for 2.5 hours.
Remove the ham, skim the liquid, and leave a ½ inch layer of fat.
Trim off any blackened parts from the outside.
Glaze and bake
Place the ham in a dripping pan, fat side up.
Grate bread crust over the ham and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 30 minutes until browned.
Serve
Serve cold, slicing the best portions.
Use scraps for sandwiches or an omelet.
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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Thyme + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,057 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,536 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
-
Parsley + breadtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,588 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Vinegar + parsleytop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,477 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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 simmered, then baked to a browned crust.
- Vinegar
- Adds a faint acidity to the simmering liquid, balancing the rich meat.
- Bread crust
- Grated over the ham, it forms a crumb layer that browns in the oven.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the crust and helps it brown during baking.
The step that matters
Boil slowly for 2.5 hours. A gentle simmer cooks the ham through while keeping the meat tender. A hard rolling boil can toughen the muscle fibres and make the outside cook faster than the centre.
Swap the thyme
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, vinegar, parsley, sugar, bread):
- Marjoramfits about as well
- Tarragonfits about as well
- Capersfits about as well
- Thymethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against ham, vinegar, parsley, sugar, 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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