Name: Cabbage Salad, or Cold Slaw
Ingredients: 1 head fine white cabbage, minced; 3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped; 2 tablespoons salad oil; 2 teaspoons white sugar; 1 teaspoon salt

Why it works: Egg and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Cabbage Salad, or Cold Slaw

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

In a large bowl, combine the minced cabbage and chopped eggs.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the salad oil, white sugar, and salt.

Assemble and serve

Pour the dressing over the cabbage and eggs, and toss to combine.
Serve chilled.

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.

Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Cabbage + sugartop 30% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,037 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Cabbage + eggtop 32% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked 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

Fine white cabbage: Forms the bulk of the slaw and provides its crisp, fresh texture.
Hard-boiled eggs: Add richness and a soft, creamy texture that balances the crisp cabbage.
Salad oil: Carries the dressing and coats the cabbage, adding fat and smoothness.
White sugar: Adds sweetness that balances the acidity and savoriness of the dressing.