Why it works: Celery and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,169 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Cabbage Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
In a bowl, combine chopped cabbage, chopped celery, and salt.
In a saucepan, mix mustard, sugar, butter, beaten egg, and vinegar.
Make and serve
Heat the mixture on the stove, stirring until it boils.
Pour the hot dressing over the cabbage and celery mixture.
Allow to cool before serving.
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.
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Celery + mustardtop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,169 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Cabbage + mustardtop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,645 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Cabbage + celerytop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,840 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cabbage + vinegartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,924 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg
- Thickens the hot vinegar dressing as it cooks, giving it a creamy body.
- Vinegar
- Provides the acidity that gives the salad its tangy flavor.
- Sugar
- Balances the sharpness of the vinegar with sweetness.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness to the dressing.
- Cabbage
- Forms the crisp, bulky base of the salad.
The step that matters
Heating the dressing until it boils. The beaten egg can scramble if the dressing is overheated or stirred too little. Stirring constantly over steady heat lets the egg thicken the mixture smoothly before it is poured over the vegetables.
Swap the celery
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cabbage, mustard, sugar, butter, egg, vinegar):
- Tarragonfits better
- Capersfits better
- Cinnamonfits better
- Celerythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, mustard, sugar, butter, egg, vinegar. 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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