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An Excellent Way of Boiling Cabbage

A method for boiling cabbage in two stages, finished with butter and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Cabbage and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,081 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

An Excellent Way of Boiling Cabbage

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Trim and wash the cabbage in cold water, checking for insects.

  2. Cut the cabbage into quarters, leaving the stem intact, and soak in cold water for 1 hour.

Boil

  1. Bring a pot of water to a boil, adding salt, then add the cabbage and boil for 1.5 hours, skimming occasionally.

  2. Remove the cabbage and drain in a colander, then cool it under running cold water until completely cold.

  3. Discard the first water, wash the pot, and bring fresh water to a boil.

  4. Boil the cabbage in the second water for 2 to 2.5 hours until tender.

Finish and serve

  1. Drain the cabbage again, pressing out moisture with a ladle, then cut it into quarters.

  2. Add bits of fresh butter and a little pepper, cover, and serve hot.

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

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

  2. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  3. Cabbage + buttertop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,397 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

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

What each ingredient does

Cabbage
Long simmering softens its tough fibres until it becomes tender and sweet.
Fresh butter
Adds richness and a smooth mouthfeel to the cooked cabbage.

The step that matters

Draining and pressing out moisture. Cabbage holds a lot of water after boiling, and excess liquid dilutes its flavour and makes it soggy, so draining it well before serving matters.

Swap the cabbage

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

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Potatofits better
  3. Carrotfits about as well
  4. Cabbagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, 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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