Why it works: Cabbage and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,924 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Pickling Red Cabbage
Ingredients
Directions
Shred the red cabbage like sauerkraut and place it in a barrel.
Cover the cabbage with strong hot vinegar.
After 12 days, drain the vinegar and re-boil it.
Pour the re-boiled vinegar back into the barrel.
When bottling, cover the cabbage with fresh-boiled vinegar.
Ensure the cabbage is kept submerged under the vinegar using a board and a stone as weight.
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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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
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