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Egg and Ham Titbits

A pastry shell filled with a mixture of ham, egg, and cream, baked until golden.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 13,015 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Egg and Ham Titbits

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the filling

  1. Mince the ham and chop the hard boiled egg finely.

  2. Combine the minced ham, chopped egg yolk, cream, and seasoning in a bowl.

  3. Whip the egg white to stiff peaks.

  4. Fold the whipped egg white gently into the mixture.

Fill and bake

  1. Line small patty tins with flaky pastry.

  2. Spoon the mixture into each pastry shell.

  3. Sprinkle grated cheese over the filled shells.

  4. Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 7 to 10 minutes.

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. Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Cream + nutmegtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,920 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  3. Cream + cheesetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,655 recipes

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

  4. Ham + cheesetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together303 recipes

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

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

Eggs
Whipped egg white adds lightness, while the yolks and whole egg bind the filling to set.
Cream
Adds moisture and richness, giving the filling a softer, creamier texture.
Cooked ham
Provides savory flavor and body to the filling.
Flaky pastry
Forms the crisp, buttery shell that holds the filling.
Grated cheese
Melts and browns on top, adding flavor and a golden surface.

The step that matters

Fold the whipped egg white gently. Whipped egg white traps air that gives the filling lift. Vigorous stirring knocks that air out, leaving a dense, flat result.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, egg, cream, pepper, cheese):

  1. Nutmegthe original
  2. Parsleyfits about as well
  3. Celeryfits less well
  4. Tarragonfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, egg, cream, pepper, cheese. 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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