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Ham and Eggs

Poached eggs served on slices of ham, garnished with parsley.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Vinegar and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,477 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Ham and Eggs

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the ham

  1. Ensure the frying pan is clean.

  2. Cook the ham slowly in the frying pan.

Poach the eggs

  1. Bring water to a gentle boil in a separate pot and add vinegar.

  2. Crack an egg into a cup.

  3. Gently slide the egg into the boiling water.

  4. Repeat steps 4-5 for the remaining eggs, cooking two at a time.

  5. When the ham is nearly done, transfer it to a hot dish.

  6. Lift each poached egg from the water with a strainer.

  7. Trim off any loose egg white from the egg.

Assemble and serve

  1. Place each egg on a slice of ham, centered.

  2. Wipe any excess water from the eggs before serving.

  3. Garnish with fresh parsley 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. Vinegar + parsleytop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,477 recipes

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

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

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

  3. Egg + parsleytop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,765 recipes

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

  4. Ham + vinegartop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together737 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-methylbutanol (malty, whiskey).

  5. Ham + parsleytop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,249 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

Slices of ham
Provides savory, salty flavor and a base for the egg.
Eggs
Set proteins form the soft, runny yolk and tender cooked white.
Vinegar
Acidity helps the egg white hold its shape while poaching.

The step that matters

Gently slide the egg into the boiling water. Egg white begins setting as soon as it meets heat, and a hard drop or rough boil breaks the white apart. Sliding it in gently at a gentle boil keeps the egg whole and compact.

Swap the parsley

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

  1. Tarragonfits better
  2. Capersfits about as well
  3. Parsleythe original
  4. Dillfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, egg, vinegar. 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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