Perfect Pairings & Recipes for
Smoked Ham

Exquisite smoked ham flavour pairings and recipes, revealed through data science.

Smoky depths and porcine notes are at the forefront of smoked ham's flavour profile, but identifying its perfect partner requires exploring its subtle nuances. We need to study the complex interplay of notes that reside within its bouquet, such as glutamate, protease, and hints of resin, and understand how the notes affect each other and which notes they go well with.

To chart these harmonies, we analysed thousands of ingredients, each deconstructed across 150 distinct flavour dimensions, pinpointing the notes that best complement this ingredient’s profile. Our exploration reveals, for instance, how the fresh, green cis-3-hexenol in flat-leaf parsley can carry smoked ham, and how red onion's cepaceous notes forge a beautiful synergy with its smoky depths.

An ingredient's flavour comes from its core characteristics, like carnal, woody, and maillard, combined with its unique aroma notes (outer bars). When pairing ingredients, aim to include a broad variety of core characteristics for a balanced dish. And choose aroma notes that complement each other for a harmonious combination.

The Flavour Code

To understand how flavour notes harmonise, we analysed more than 50,000 popular ingredient combinations. By exploring these pairings, we identified specific flavour notes that frequently occur together, indicating they share a harmonious relationship.

The Flavours That Harmonise With Smoky Notes

Our analysis reveals a strong connection between smoke and onion flavours. Since smoked ham has a distinct smoky flavour, try pairing it with the oniony flavours of red onion.

The recipe below provides inspiration for pairing smoked ham with red onion.

Harmonious Flavours Of Smoked Ham

Just as our statistical analysis showed that smoke and oniony flavour notes tend to pair together, we can identify the full profile of flavours that harmonise with each of the flavour notes present in smoked ham. For instance, the glutamic flavours of smoked ham are strongly associated with bay leaf and basil-like flavours.

The aromas linked to the various accents of smoked ham can be seen highlighted in the pink bars below.

Matching Flavour Profiles

The flavour profile of flat-leaf parsley offers many of the aromas complementary to smoked ham, including leafy and grassy aroma notes. Because the flavour profile of flat-leaf parsley has many of the of the features that are complementary to smoked ham, they are likely to pair very well together.

The chart above shows the unique profile of flat-leaf parsley across 150 dimensions of flavour, while the recipes below offer inspiration for bringing these flavours together with smoked ham.

Recipes That Pair Smoked Ham With Flat-leaf Parsley

Linked Flavour Notes

Looking at the accents that are most strongly associated with the various flavours of smoked ham, we can identify other ingredients that are likely to pair well.

The left side of the chart above highlights the aroma notes of smoked ham, along with the complementary aromas associated with each note. While the right side shows some of the ingredients that share many of the notes complementary to smoked ham.

What To Drink With Smoked Ham

The violet notes in crème de violette make it a perfect pairing with smoked ham. Likewise, the leafy flavours in carrot juice create a match made in heaven. Explore a variety of ingredients below that beautifully complement the unique character of smoked ham below.

Which Vegetables Go With Smoked Ham?

Choose vegetables that lift its salinity or anchor its fermented aroma. Anaheim pepper offers vibrant, clean counterpoints, its verdant freshness lifting the palate. Tomato add a gentle, oniony brightness, while iceberg lettuce introduces a sophisticated, anise-tinged elegance.

Alternatively, embrace vegetables that harmonise with smoked ham's salinity. The addition of banana leaf, with its subtle hexenal notes, can complement the brine beautifully. Collard greens bridges earthiness and citrus zest, while spring onion lends a fresh leafiness.

How Flavonomics Works

We've pioneered a unique, data-driven approach to decode the intricate art of flavour pairing. Our goal is to move beyond intuition and uncover the science of why certain ingredients harmonise beautifully. This rigorous methodology allows us to provide you with insightful and reliable pairing recommendations.

Our analysis begins with over 50,000 carefully selected recipes from acclaimed chefs like Galton Blackiston, Marcello Tully, and Pierre Lambinon. This premium dataset ensures our model distils genuine culinary excellence and creativity.

Each ingredient from these recipes is deconstructed across 150 distinct flavour dimensions, creating a unique numerical "flavour fingerprint." This quantification allows us to apply advanced analytical methods to identify complex patterns between flavour notes.

We identify popular ingredient combinations that frequently appear in our recipe database. Regression analysis is then performed on these pairings to statistically validate and pinpoint truly harmonious flavours.

These insights drive our predictive model, which allows us to take any ingredient (e.g., Smoked ham), analyse its detailed flavour profile, and accurately reveal its complementary flavours and perfect ingredient partners.