Why it works: Carrot and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓
Westphalia Ham, Roasted a LA St. James
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Prepare the Westphalia ham according to previous directions.
Soak the ham in mirepoix for the allotted time.
Skewer the ham with a large iron skewer. Secure the skewer with string.
Reduce the mirepoix. Cover the underside of the ham with the reduced mirepoix.
Wrap and roast
Wrap the ham in oiled cartridge paper. Cover the paper with venison paste. Tie the wrapped paper with string.
Roast the ham in a 350°F (175°C) oven for about five hours.
After three and a half hours, infuse the ham with ½ pint of brandy or Malaga wine through a hole in the paste. Seal the hole with paste.
Roast for an additional 20 minutes.
Finish and serve
Carefully remove the ham from the spit. Trim the ham.
Set the ham to dry on a baking sheet in the oven. Glaze the ham.
Serve with the reserved essence for flavor.
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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Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,173 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together21,601 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,518 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Carrot + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,029 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Ham + venisontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Westphalia ham
- Is the main cut being cooked, so its long roasting turns it tender and flavorful.
- Mirepoix
- Its vegetables and aromatics flavour the ham as it soaks and as the reduced essence is spread over it.
- Brandy or malaga wine
- Adds alcohol and sweetness to the ham, carrying flavour deep into the meat through the paste hole.
- Venison paste
- A flour and water paste that seals the paper wrapping so moisture and flavour stay in the ham.
The step that matters
Infusing the brandy or Malaga wine through the paste. Pouring the liquid through a hole in the sealed crust must be done carefully so it soaks into the meat rather than running off. The hole must then be resealed so the paste keeps the ham moist and the oven heat even during the final roasting.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, carrot, celery, venison, flour, brandy):
- Turnipfits better
- Parsnipfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against ham, carrot, celery, venison, flour, brandy. 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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