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 ↓
Baked Cabbage
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the cabbage
Boil the cabbage until thoroughly cooked.
Drain the cabbage in a colander.
Chop the drained cabbage finely and place it in a dish.
Season and bake
Season with coarse sea salt, black pepper, and butter.
Beat the eggs and mix them into the cabbage thoroughly.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for about 30 minutes.
Serve
Serve immediately.
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.
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Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,081 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Cabbage + buttertop 26% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,397 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Cabbage + eggtop 32% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,391 recipes
Shared aroma: 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 dish and gives it its main texture once boiled and chopped.
- Eggs
- Bind the cabbage together and set into a firm mass as they bake.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, carrying flavour and moisture through the cabbage.
The step that matters
Drain the cabbage thoroughly before mixing in the eggs. Excess water dilutes the beaten eggs and stops them setting firmly, so the baked dish can turn loose or watery. Draining well lets the egg binder hold the cabbage together.
Swap the cabbage
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, butter, egg):
- Capsicumfits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Chivefits better
- Cabbagethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, butter, 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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