Why it works: Carrot and tomato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,606 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Baked Ham
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the ham
Soak, wash, and parboil the ham for 12 minutes per pound.
Remove the skin and rub flour into the ham to staunch the juices.
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Bake
Place the ham in the oven with the onion, carrot, and tomato around it.
Pour in the hot water to prevent burning and cover closely.
Bake for 12 minutes per pound, basting four times with Madeira or sherry and four times with pan gravy.
When done, sprinkle browned cracker crumbs thickly over the ham.
Leave in the oven until firm and evenly colored.
Serve
For a hot serving, strain the gravy and thicken it with browned flour.
For a cold serving, save the pan liquor for another dish.
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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Carrot + tomatotop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,606 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together21,601 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + tomatotop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,633 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Ham + sherrytop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together377 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
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Carrot + sherrytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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 being cooked, so its size sets the parboiling and baking time.
- Madeira or sherry
- Adds sweetness and aroma to the basting liquid as it reduces on the ham's surface.
- Brown cracker crumbs
- Form a browned, crisp crust on the outside of the ham.
- Onion, carrot, and tomato
- Flavor the pan liquor, which becomes the base for the gravy.
The step that matters
Basting and covering with water. The hot water keeps the pan from scorching while the cover traps steam, so the ham stays moist. Basting with wine and pan gravy builds color and flavor on the surface as the meat cooks.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, carrot, tomato, sherry):
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatofits about as well
- Turnipfits about as well
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against ham, carrot, tomato, sherry. 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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