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Sam Weller Hash

A hash of ham and veal simmered in water, seasoned, then baked with a crust.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Ham and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,536 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓

Sam Weller Hash

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Chop the ham and veal into large pieces.

  2. Place the meat in a pot and add cold water and seasoning.

Cook the filling

  1. If desired, thicken the mixture with a little bread crumbs or flour.

  2. Simmer slowly for a long time until cooked through.

Bake and serve

  1. Transfer the mixture to a baking pan and cover with a light crust.

  2. Bake until the crust is golden and the filling is heated through.

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. Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,536 recipes

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

  2. Ham + vealtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,264 recipes

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

  3. Veal + breadtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,056 recipes

    Shared aroma: cis-3-hexenol (green, grassy).

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

What each ingredient does

Ham
Provides savory, salty flavor and a firm, meaty texture to the filling.
Veal
Contributes mild, tender meat that becomes soft during slow simmering.
Bread crumbs or flour
Optional thickener that absorbs liquid and helps the filling hold together.

The step that matters

Simmer slowly for a long time until cooked through. Slow simmering in cold-started liquid lets the meat cook gently and become tender without tightening. Cooking too fast can toughen the meat and leave the pieces unevenly cooked.

“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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