Why it works: Ham and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 33% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,516 recipes. Both carry phenylacetaldehyde, which smells hawthorne, honey. The science ↓
Roast Ham
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
Soak the ham in tepid water overnight.
Roast
Set the ham before a 350°F (175°C) fire four hours before serving, turning it frequently, and roast for 2 hours.
Remove the ham from the roaster and carefully take off the skin.
Scrape out the fat from the roaster, return the ham, and roast for an additional 2 hours, basting often with the drippings.
Make the sauce and serve
Place the ham on a dish.
In a saucepan, combine the drippings with 1 tablespoon of flour mixed in a teacup of water, stir, and boil.
Serve the sauce in a sauce tureen.
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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Ham + flourtop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,516 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ham
- Is the main cut of meat that is slowly roasted and carved for serving.
- Flour
- Thickens the drippings into a smooth sauce as it boils.
The step that matters
Basting the ham with drippings during the second roast. Basting keeps the surface moist while the fat renders, helping the outside brown and the meat stay juicy during the long second roast.
“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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