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To Dress Hams

A method for preparing ham by soaking, simmering, and seasoning with herbs and vegetables.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and laurel are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,516 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

To Dress Hams

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Soak the ham in water overnight if it is very hard.

  2. Place the ham in a linen bag and cover it well.

Cook

  1. Simmer the ham in a boiler of water for 3.5 to 5 hours, depending on its size.

  2. Boil cloves, bay leaves, laurel leaves, and herbs with the ham for added flavor.

Finish and serve

  1. Remove the skin carefully to keep the ham moist.

  2. Sprinkle raspings over the ham and garnish with sliced carrots.

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. Clove + laureltop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Carrot + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,873 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Carrot + laureltop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,780 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

  4. Ham + clovetop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,666 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).

  5. Ham + carrottop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,918 recipes

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

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 being cooked, and its size sets the simmering time.
Cloves
Add aromatic flavor to the cooking liquid, perfuming the ham as it simmers.
Bay leaves
Add a subtle aromatic herbal flavor to the cooking liquid.

The step that matters

Simmer the ham gently for the full time. Cooking time depends on the ham's size, and a ham cooked too briefly stays tough and underheated at the centre. Keeping the water at a gentle simmer rather than a hard boil helps the meat stay tender and moist instead of drying out and toughening.

“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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