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
Make the dressing
In a bowl, combine the egg yolks, sugar, butter, pepper, salt, mustard, and vinegar.
Set the bowl in hot water and stir carefully until the mixture begins to thicken.
Assemble the salad
Let it cool, then pour it over the sliced cabbage.
If the salad is not moist enough, add a little more vinegar.
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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Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,081 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).
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 salad and soaks up the dressing.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the dressing as they set gently in warm water and bind it together.
- Vinegar
- Adds sharp acidity that balances the richness of the yolks and butter.
- Butter
- Adds fat and smoothness to the dressing.
- Mustard
- Adds sharpness and helps emulsify the dressing.
The step that matters
Thickening the dressing over hot water. Egg yolks thicken when heated gently, but if the heat is too high they scramble and curdle. Stirring carefully over hot water keeps the dressing smooth and lightly thick.
Swap the celery
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cabbage, egg, sugar, butter, pepper, mustard, vinegar):
- Tarragonfits better
- Dillfits better
- Capersfits better
- Celerythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, egg, sugar, butter, pepper, mustard, 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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