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Boned Ham

A ham stuffed with a spice and breadcrumb dressing, then baked until browned.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Boned Ham

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the ham

  1. Soak the ham overnight in cold water.

  2. Place the ham skin side down in a boiler and cover with cold water.

  3. Boil the ham for 4 hours for medium-sized, longer for larger.

  4. Remove the ham, trim, skin, and turn it over.

  5. Cut around the small bones at each end to remove them.

Stuff and season

  1. Make a dressing with the crumbs, pepper, minced onion, and just enough water to bind.

  2. Stuff the dressing into the ham and tie it up tightly.

  3. Rub the fat with cloves, allspice, black pepper, and ground mustard.

Bake and serve

  1. Cover the ham with rolled cracker mixed with sugar if desired.

  2. Bake in a moderate oven (350°F / 175°C) for at least 1 hour until browned.

  3. Alternatively, cover with cornmeal batter and bake for 4-5 hours.

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. Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Mustard + allspicetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,928 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  3. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  4. Allspice + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,395 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Onion + mustardtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,259 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Ham
Forms the main body of the dish and carries the stuffing and spices.
Rolled cracker or bread crumbs
Absorb moisture and bind the dressing so it holds together when stuffed.
Ground mustard
Adds sharp, pungent flavour that balances the richness of the ham fat.
Sugar
Caramelises on the surface during baking, adding sweetness and browning.
Cornmeal
Forms a batter coating that sets during baking and gives a crisp outer crust.

The step that matters

Boil the ham for the full time. Boiling for 4 hours, longer for larger hams, cooks the meat through and softens the connective tissue before stuffing. Stopping early leaves the centre underdone and the ham tough.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, bread, mustard, clove, allspice, pepper, sugar):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Horseradishfits better
  3. Capsicumfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, bread, mustard, clove, allspice, pepper, sugar. 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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