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Salad

Cold Slaw

A chilled cabbage salad dressed with a mustard‑based sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Cold Slaw

Why it works: Cabbage and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,645 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Cold Slaw

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the cabbage

  1. Cut the cabbage very fine and soak it in cold water for 1 hour.

  2. Wring the cabbage dry in a towel.

Make the dressing

  1. In a double boiler, combine the eggs, mustard, salt, paprika, sugar, and milk.

  2. Heat the mixture until hot.

  3. Thicken the mixture with corn starch.

  4. Remove the mixture from heat.

  5. Stir in the vinegar and butter.

Combine and serve

  1. Mix the dressing with the cabbage.

  2. Serve immediately.

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. Cabbage + mustardtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,645 recipes

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

  2. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Milk + corntop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,955 recipes

    Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).

  5. Mustard + corntop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together463 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Cabbage
Forms the bulk of the slaw and provides the crisp texture.
Eggs
Thicken the dressing as they cook and add richness.
Corn starch
Thickens the dressing so it clings to the cabbage.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that sharpens the flavor of the dressing.
Sugar
Balances the sharpness of the vinegar with sweetness.
Butter
Adds fat for a smoother, richer dressing.

The step that matters

Thicken the mixture with corn starch. Corn starch needs to be heated to thicken, and the egg mixture can curdle or lump if it overheats. Heating gently over a double boiler and stirring keeps the dressing smooth.

Swap the cabbage

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, mustard, sugar, milk, vinegar, butter, corn):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Potatofits better
  3. Asparagusfits better
  4. Cabbagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, mustard, sugar, milk, vinegar, butter, corn. 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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