Why it works: Egg and ham are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,526 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Glazed Ham
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the glaze
Beat the yolks of the eggs until very light.
Coat and bake
Cover the ham completely with the beaten egg.
Sift grated cracker over the ham.
Place the ham in the oven to brown the glazing.
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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Egg + hamtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,526 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
- Beaten yolks form a glossy coating that helps the cracker crumbs stick to the ham.
- Grated cracker
- Forms a crisp crumb layer that browns in the oven, adding texture to the surface.
- Ham
- The main cut of meat that is coated and heated through to form the dish.
The step that matters
Placing the ham in the oven to brown the glazing. The egg and cracker coating browns only when heated enough to set and toast the proteins and starches. Too low a heat leaves it pale and soft, while too high a heat can scorch the crumbs before the ham warms through.
“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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