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Essence of Ham

A stock made by simmering ham bone meat, water, herbs, and beef gravy to enhance gravies and sauces.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,971 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Essence of Ham

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Remove all the meat from a ham bone.

  2. Pound the meat and break the bone.

Make the stock

  1. Place both in a saucepan with water and sweet herbs.

  2. Simmer gently, stirring occasionally.

  3. Add beef gravy and black pepper.

  4. Continue to simmer until well flavored with herbs.

  5. Strain and store for enhancing gravies and sauces.

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. Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Meat + beeftop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,533 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  3. Meat + hamtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,095 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  4. Ham + beeftop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,729 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

  5. Meat + peppertop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together8,777 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

Ham bone meat
Supplies the main savory, salty pork flavor for the stock.
Beef gravy
Adds body and savory depth to the stock.
Sweet herbs
Contribute aromatic flavor that infuses the liquid during simmering.

The step that matters

Simmer gently, stirring occasionally.. A gentle simmer slowly draws flavor out of the bone and meat while keeping the liquid clear. Vigorous boiling emulsifies fat into the liquid, making the stock cloudy and greasy.

“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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