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Ham

A ham cured with saltpetre, sugars, sea salt, common salt, treacle, black pepper, and bruised juniper berries.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Ham and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 23% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,058 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Ham

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Rub bruised juniper berries onto the meat before adding salt.

  2. Mix saltpetre, coarse sugar, coarse sea salt, and common salt.

Cure and age

  1. Cure the ham for 4 days.

  2. After curing, apply treacle and let it sit for 1 month, then add black pepper.

  3. Add additional bruised juniper berries.

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. Ham + peppertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,058 recipes

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

  2. Sugar + peppertop 32% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together19,401 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Ham + sugartop 33% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,084 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

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

What each ingredient does

Ham
The main cut of meat that the cure penetrates and seasons throughout.
Saltpetre
Helps preserve the meat and sets its characteristic pink colour during curing.
Common salt
Draws out moisture and slows spoilage, helping the ham cure safely.
Coarse sugar
Balances the saltiness and adds sweetness to the cured surface.
Treacle
Adds sweetness, moisture and deep colour to the ham's outer layer.
Juniper berries
Contribute a resinous, aromatic flavour that penetrates the meat.

The step that matters

Applying the dry cure. Salt and saltpetre must reach all parts of the meat evenly. Salt draws out moisture and preserves the ham, so uneven coverage can leave spoilage-prone areas uncured.

“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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