Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Ham Quenelle
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the sauce
In a saucepan, melt the butter, stir in the flour, and slowly add the milk and pepper. Bring to a boil.
Take a heaping tablespoon of the sauce, mix it with the beaten eggs, then add this mixture back to the sauce.
Layer and bake
Layer minced ham and sliced potatoes alternately in a dish, seasoning the ham with pepper.
Pour the sauce over the layered ham and potatoes, sprinkle with bread crumbs, and bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 15 minutes until browned.
Serve
Serve with biscuits, coffee, and boiled eggs.
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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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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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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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Boiled ham
- Provides the savory meat base and flavor of the casserole.
- Potatoes
- Form the bulk of the layers and soak up the sauce as they bake.
- Butter
- Enriches the sauce and adds richness and flavor.
- Flour
- Thickens the milk into a smooth sauce that coats the layers.
- Milk
- Forms the body of the sauce and keeps the casserole moist.
- Eggs
- Bind the sauce and help it set into a custard-like texture when baked.
The step that matters
Adding the egg mixture to the sauce. If the hot sauce is added to the eggs too quickly or without first tempering, the eggs can scramble and become grainy. Mixing in a spoonful of hot sauce first gently raises the egg temperature so they blend smoothly.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, pepper, butter, flour, milk, bread, egg):
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Potatothe original
- Leekfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against ham, pepper, butter, flour, milk, bread, egg. 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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