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Eggs with Ham

A baked dish of eggs and ham served in individual soufflé cases.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Sauce and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,338 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Eggs with Ham

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Grease 3 china soufflé cases.

  2. Season the ham with pepper.

  3. Moisten the ham with the sauce or gravy.

  4. Add a few drops of mushroom ketchup or any sauce you prefer.

Assemble

  1. Put the ham mixture into the cases.

  2. Carefully add the eggs, keeping the yolks whole.

  3. Sprinkle a little salt on top.

  4. Sprinkle a little pepper on top.

  5. Cover with a thin layer of breadcrumbs.

  6. Place small pieces of butter on top.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven until the eggs are set, about 15 to 20 minutes.

  2. Serve in the cases.

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. Sauce + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together15,338 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Ham + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,475 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  3. Egg + hamtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,526 recipes

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

  4. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

Sauce and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set to form the body of the dish as they cook, holding the ham in place.
Cooked ham
Provides savoury flavour and substance within the custard-like egg base.
White or brown sauce or gravy
Adds moisture to the ham so it stays juicy rather than drying in the oven.
Browned breadcrumbs
Form a crisp, golden topping through browning in the oven.
Butter
Adds richness and helps the top brown as it melts over the surface.

The step that matters

Carefully add the eggs, keeping the yolks whole. Whole yolks look better and cook evenly, while broken yolks spread and make the set texture uneven. Eggs cook at a gentle heat, so overbaking turns them rubbery; check them as the time ends.

“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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