Why it works: Sugar and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 32% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,401 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
To Kipper Salmon
Ingredients
Directions
Mix the common salt, hay salt, coarse sugar, Jamaica pepper, black pepper, and saltpetre finely.
Rub the mixture into the ham for about an hour, ensuring no part is left unrubbed, including the shank bone.
Place the ham in a clean trough, covering it with the remaining brine.
Turn the ham daily and pour fresh brine over it as needed.
Let the ham sit in salt for about a month until done.
Hang the ham up to dry in a kitchen.
If desired, smoke the ham using wood smoke.
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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Sugar + peppertop 32% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,401 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,401 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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