Why it works: Ham and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,536 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓
Kidneys Curried
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Combine the Halford's curry sauce and stewed kidneys in a stewpan and heat slowly until hot.
Cut enough slices of bread to cover the dish, toast them lightly, keeping them soft.
Spread the toasted bread thickly with devilled ham and arrange it on the dish.
Serve
Pour the curried kidneys over the bread and serve hot with chutney.
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.
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Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,536 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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Sauce + breadtop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,934 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sauce + hamtop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,314 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Stewed kidneys
- Provide the main protein and bulk, heated gently in the sauce so they stay tender.
- Halford's curry sauce
- Supplies the spiced, saucy base that coats the kidneys and carries the flavour.
- Devilled ham
- Adds a savoury, rich layer that flavours the bread beneath the kidneys.
The step that matters
Heat the kidneys slowly. Heating gently over low heat keeps the kidneys tender and stops the sauce from scorching or splitting, since high heat toughens meat proteins and can burn sugars in the sauce.
“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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