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Stuffed Cabbage

A cabbage head filled with seasoned meat, boiled, served with butter and parsley.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Nutmeg and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 687 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Stuffed Cabbage

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the cabbage

  1. Remove the stalk from the cabbage and hollow out the center to create space for the forcemeat.

  2. Wash the cavity with the reserved egg yolk.

  3. Fill the cavity with the forcemeat and tie it in a cloth.

Cook and serve

  1. Boil for three hours or more.

  2. Serve on a platter with drawn butter and garnish with parsley.

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. Nutmeg + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together687 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Pepper + marjoramtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,609 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,081 recipes

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

  4. Nutmeg + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Cabbage + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,001 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

Cabbage
Forms an edible wrapper that holds the filling in shape during boiling.
Forcemeat (in the method)
Provides the savoury meat filling that cooks inside the cabbage.
Eggs
Bind the forcemeat so it holds together when cooked.
Suet
Adds fat that keeps the filling moist and tender.
Fine bread crumbs
Absorb moisture and help the filling hold its shape.
Onion
Adds sweetness and aroma to the filling.

The step that matters

Tie the cloth snugly around the filled cabbage. If the cloth is loose, the filling can work loose or spill out while the cabbage boils. A firm tie keeps the forcemeat packed inside and the cabbage holding its round shape throughout the long cook.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cabbage, meat, bread, nutmeg, pepper, marjoram, egg):

  1. Spinachfits better
  2. Leekfits better
  3. Shallotfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, meat, bread, nutmeg, pepper, marjoram, egg. 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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