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To Boil a Ham

A ham boiled and then browned, seasoned with raspings, cloves, optional brandy and sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,362 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

To Boil a Ham

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wash the ham with a coarse kitchen cloth and warm water to remove any straws and residue.

  2. Place the ham in a large pot and cover it with cold water.

Boil

  1. Heat the ham on the cool side of the fire for about 2 hours until it is well heated.

  2. Increase the heat and bring the water to a boil.

  3. Cook for 1.5 hours for a small ham, 2 hours for a medium ham, or 2.5 hours for a large ham after boiling begins.

Finish and serve

  1. Remove the skin from the ham.

  2. Optionally, pour a glass of brandy and a little white sugar over the ham before adding the raspings.

  3. Sprinkle the raspings over it.

  4. Brown the ham by placing it before the fire, turning it until all sides are evenly browned.

  5. Garnish with cloves before serving.

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 + brandytop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,362 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

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

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

  3. Brandy + sugartop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together11,939 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Clove + sugartop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together17,182 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  5. Ham + brandytop 29% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together61 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

Brandy and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,939 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

Ham
Is the main cooked meat, becoming tender and fully heated during the long simmer.
Raspings
Breadcrumb-like coating that crisps and browns on the outside of the ham.
White sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the surface brown when heated in front of the fire.

The step that matters

Brown the ham evenly. Sugar and breadcrumbs brown quickly and can scorch on one side. Turning the ham steadily lets the surface colour evenly without burning the coating.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, brandy, sugar):

  1. Cinnamonfits about as well
  2. Clovethe original
  3. Nutmegfits about as well
  4. Allspicefits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, brandy, sugar. 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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