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Ham Toast

A toast topped with a mixture of chopped ham, egg yolks, butter, cream or milk, and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Ham Toast

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the topping

  1. Chop the ham finely.

  2. Mix the chopped ham with the beaten egg yolks, butter, cream or milk, and pepper.

  3. Cook the mixture over low heat until it thickens.

Assemble and serve

  1. Dip the toast briefly in hot salted water.

  2. Spread melted butter on the toast, then top with the ham mixture.

  3. Serve hot.

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. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Ham + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,475 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

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

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

  4. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

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

What each ingredient does

Ham
Provides savory, salty flavor and substance to the topping.
Egg yolks
Thicken the mixture as they cook, binding it into a spreadable topping.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, giving the topping a smooth, mellow texture.
Cream or rich milk
Adds moisture and richness, keeping the cooked mixture soft and creamy.

The step that matters

Cooking the ham mixture over low heat. Egg yolks thicken by gentle heat but can scramble if overheated. Low heat and steady stirring keep the mixture smooth and pourable rather than curdled.

“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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