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 Toast
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the topping
Mince the ham and pound it with the yolk of the hard-boiled egg and seasoning.
Add the raw egg and stir over low heat until hot.
If desired, add 1 drop of carmine for color.
Assemble and bake
Spread the mixture on the toast.
Sprinkle with the white of the egg rubbed through a sieve.
Place in the oven at 350°F (175°C) to heat for a few minutes and serve.
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 + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,526 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Ham + peppertop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,058 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Egg + peppertop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together50,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 50,580 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
What each ingredient does
- Cooked ham
- Provides the savory meaty base that flavors the whole topping.
- Raw egg
- Heats and sets into the mixture, binding it together on the toast.
- Hard-boiled egg
- Its yolk is pounded into the mixture, giving a rich, smooth texture.
- Toast rounds
- Serve as the crisp base that holds the topping.
The step that matters
Stir over low heat until hot. Gentle heat warms the raw egg and ham without scrambling or curdling the egg into lumps, keeping the mixture smooth enough to spread.
“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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