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Ham Ramakins

A baked dish of ham, eggs, milk, herbs, mustard, and egg whites.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Mustard and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,430 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Ham Ramakins

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 the base

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. Beat the egg yolks slightly, then mix in the ham, milk, herbs, mustard, salt, and pepper.

  3. Grease 8 china ramakin cases and fill them three-quarters full with the mixture.

  4. Bake until set, about 30 minutes.

Top and bake

  1. Meanwhile, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks and season with a little salt.

  2. Pile the egg whites on top of the mixture in the ramakin cases, sprinkle with Krona pepper, and return to the oven.

  3. Bake until the egg whites are crisp and lightly browned.

  4. Serve hot.

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. Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

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

  2. Ham + mustardtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together747 recipes

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

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

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

  4. Egg + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Milk + peppertop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together26,984 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Yolks bind the ham mixture while whipped whites form a light, crisp topping.
Ham
Provides the main savoury flavour and substance of the filling.
Milk
Adds moisture so the custard-like base sets softly rather than dry.
Made mustard
Adds sharpness that balances the richness of the eggs and ham.

The step that matters

Beating the egg whites to stiff peaks. Whites that are under-whipped will deflate and weep, while over-whipped whites turn grainy and dry. Stiff, glossy peaks trap air that expands in the oven and gives the topping its light, crisp texture.

Swap the mustard

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

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Asparagusfits better
  3. Potatofits better
  4. Mustardthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, egg, milk, pepper. 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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