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Ham Ramakins

A baked ham and egg dish served in ramekins.

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 filling

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

  2. Beat 2 whole eggs and 2 egg yolks slightly.

  3. Add the ham, cream, herbs, mustard, salt, and pepper.

  4. Mix the mixture well.

  5. Butter china ramekin cases and fill them three-quarters full with the mixture.

  6. Bake until set.

Top and finish

  1. Beat the remaining 2 egg whites to stiff peaks.

  2. Season the beaten whites with a little salt.

  3. Pile the seasoned whites on top of the cases.

  4. Sprinkle with Krona pepper.

  5. Return the cases to the oven.

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

  7. 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. Ham + creamtop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,370 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  5. Ham + peppertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,058 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set the custard-like filling and, when whipped, give the crisp meringue-style top.
Cream or milk
Adds moisture and richness, keeping the baked filling tender.
Cooked ham
Provides the savoury meaty flavour at the centre of the dish.
Made mustard
Adds sharp, pungent flavour that balances the rich eggs.

The step that matters

Beating the egg whites to stiff peaks. Whites that are under-beaten will not hold their shape on top of the cases, and over-beaten whites turn dry and grainy, so they may not brown evenly or crisp well in the second bake.

Swap the mustard

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

  1. Spinachfits about as well
  2. Asparagusfits about as well
  3. Capsicumfits about as well
  4. Mustardthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, egg, cream, 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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