Why it works: Pineapple and apple cider vinegar share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 26 recipes mention both. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓
The recipe
Serves 24Ingredients
Contains: egg (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Remove the tough outer leaves from the green cabbage, cut it into quarters, remove the core, and shred the cabbage finely with a knife or food processor.
Peel the carrots and shred them finely. Add the shredded carrots to the cabbage in a large bowl and toss to combine.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, granulated sugar, apple cider vinegar, pineapple juice, lemon juice, sweet pickle relish brine, vegetable oil, salt, celery salt, onion powder, ground mustard, ground white pepper, and ground black pepper until smooth.
Pour the dressing over the cabbage and carrots and toss well until evenly coated.
Add the crushed pineapple, including its liquid, and fold it through the slaw.
Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour so the flavors blend and the cabbage softens slightly.
Stir the coleslaw well before serving and add a little more salt or pepper if needed. Keep chilled until serving.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Pineapple + apple cider vinegartop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together26 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together10,172 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Lemon + celerytop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together3,467 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Cabbage + celerytop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,839 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Carrot + oniontop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together21,599 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cabbage, carrot, pineapple, sugar, apple cider vinegar, lemon, celery):
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Broccolibetter flavor fit
- Tomatobetter flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, carrot, pineapple, sugar, apple cider vinegar, lemon, celery. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
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