Cabbage Salad

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. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together43,450 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

3. Cabbage + vinegartop 13% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together2,924 recipes

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

4. Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together27,814 recipes

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

5. Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together20,806 recipes

   Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

What each ingredient does

Cabbage

Provides the crisp, fibrous body that forms the bulk of the salad.

Sweet cream

Adds richness and fat, softening the sharpness of the vinegar.

Vinegar

Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and balances the sweetness.

Sugar

Adds sweetness that balances the acidity of the vinegar.

Swap the cabbage

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

1. Capsicumfits better
2. Mustardfits better
3. Horseradishfits about as well
4. Cabbagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, sugar, vinegar, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.