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Deviled Ham

A cold ham mixture with butter, oil, mustard, egg yolk, and pepper, served molded or on bread.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Deviled Ham

Why it works: Mustard and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,430 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Deviled Ham

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Mix the finely chopped cold ham with melted butter, salad oil, ground mustard, beaten egg yolk, and pepper.

  2. Mold the mixture for serving.

Serve

  1. Garnish with sliced lemon or spread on thin, buttered bread.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

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

  2. Ham + mustardtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together747 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

  3. Ham + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,475 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  4. Ham + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,526 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Egg yolk
Acts as an emulsifier, helping the butter and oil bind smoothly with the ham.
Melted butter
Adds richness and a smooth, spreadable texture once it cools and firms.
Salad oil
Keeps the mixture moist and softer by adding liquid fat.
Ground mustard
Adds sharp, pungent flavor that cuts through the richness of the ham and fat.

The step that matters

Mix the ham with the fats and yolk. The beaten egg yolk must be well combined with the melted butter and oil so the fat emulsifies evenly. If the fat is too hot or added too fast, the mixture can separate and turn greasy rather than smooth and spreadable.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, butter, egg, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Asparagusfits about as well
  3. Mustardthe original
  4. Potatofits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, butter, egg, pepper. 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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