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To Heighten the Colour and the Flavour of Gravies

A method to enhance the colour and flavour of gravies using diced ham, spices, and optional flour.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Shallot and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,737 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

To Heighten the Colour and the Flavour of Gravies

Ingredients

Directions

Stew the ham

  1. Slowly color the diced ham in butter over low heat in a small saucepan.

  2. Add the mace, cloves, bay leaf, savory herbs, shallots or onion, and parsley root.

  3. Stew the mixture for 30 minutes.

Add the stock

  1. Gradually add it to the beef stock or broth.

  2. Boil the mixture for 20 minutes or more.

  3. Stir in flour if thickening is needed.

  4. Simmer for 3-4 minutes before adding stock.

  5. Shake the pan often to detach the browning while the ham is stewing.

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. Shallot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,737 recipes

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

  2. Clove + shallottop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,677 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Shallot + flourtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,081 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Clove + parsleytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,768 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Mace + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together8,400 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Lean unboiled ham
Browns in butter to add savory, meaty flavor to the gravy base.
Butter
Carries heat evenly and helps the ham brown without drying out.
Shallots
Adds a mild, aromatic sweetness that rounds out the gravy.
Flour
Thickens the liquid to give the gravy body, if used.
Beef stock or broth
Forms the liquid base that carries the flavors and gives the gravy its body.

The step that matters

Slowly color the diced ham over low heat. Gentle heat lets the ham brown through Maillard reactions, building deep flavor. Too much heat scorches the browned bits, which turns the gravy bitter.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, butter, clove, shallot, parsley, flour, beef):

  1. Capersfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Tarragonfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, butter, clove, shallot, parsley, flour, beef. 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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