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Ham, Baked

A ham soaked, coated with flour paste, baked, then breaded and browned.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and sage match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,388 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Ham, Baked

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Soak the ham in cold water for 8 to 24 hours, depending on its saltiness.

  2. Wash the ham in lukewarm water and trim away any discolored parts.

  3. Cover the ham with a thick paste made of flour and water, ensuring no gaps.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake the ham in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C).

  2. Remove the paste and skin while the ham is still hot.

  3. Cover the ham with breadcrumbs and brown it 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. Pepper + sagetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,388 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Clove + sagetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together731 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  4. Flour + sagetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,115 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Flour + clovetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,671 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Ham
Main protein; soaking and trimming adjust its saltiness and remove discolored areas before cooking.
Flour
Mixed with water into a paste that seals the ham, protecting its surface and moisture while it bakes.

The step that matters

Covering the ham with flour paste. Any gaps in the paste let the surface dry out and scorch during baking, so the paste should be thick and fully sealed around the ham.

Swap the sage

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, flour, clove, pepper):

  1. Allspicefits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Marjoramfits better
  4. Sagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, flour, clove, pepper. 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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