Why it works: Chicken and ham are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,497 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
Ham Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Make the mixture
Soak the gelatine in cold water and dissolve it in hot chicken broth.
Strain the mixture over the chopped ham and stir while it stands in ice water until it thickens.
Fold in the stiffly beaten cream and add paprika and salt if needed.
Set and serve
Pour the mixture into a rinsed mold and refrigerate.
At serving time, turn it out and fill the center with lettuce leaves.
Serve with mayonnaise or French dressing.
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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Chicken + hamtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,497 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Chicken + lettucetop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,421 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
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Ham + creamtop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,370 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Chicken + creamtop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,241 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Ham + lettucetop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together276 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Granulated gelatine
- Sets the liquid mixture into a firm, sliceable mold as it cools.
- Chicken broth
- Carries the gelatine and adds savoury flavour to the set mixture.
- Ham
- Provides the main savoury flavour and the chopped texture of the salad.
- Thick cream
- Adds richness and a soft, airy texture when folded in whipped.
The step that matters
Stir the mixture over ice water until it thickens. Gelatine sets only as it cools, so the mixture must thicken to a syrupy consistency before the whipped cream is folded in. If it sets too firmly, the cream will not blend evenly, and if it stays runny, the mold will not hold its shape.
Swap the lettuce
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, ham, cream):
- Onionfits better
- Potatofits better
- Leekfits better
- Lettucethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, ham, cream. 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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