Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Cold Slaw
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dressing
Boil half a cup of vinegar with 2 teaspoonfuls of sugar, 2 teaspoonfuls of salt, 2 teaspoonfuls of mustard, and 2 saltspoonfuls of pepper.
Rub a quarter of a cup of butter with 1 teaspoonful of flour to a cream and pour the boiling vinegar on it. Cook 5 minutes.
Pour the mixture over 1 well beaten egg.
Dress the cabbage
Mix this dressing while hot with 1 pint of red or white shaved or chopped cabbage.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
-
Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cabbage (in the method)
- Forms the bulk of the slaw and absorbs the hot dressing, becoming tender as it sits.
- Egg
- Thickens the dressing into a creamy custard-like binder when cooked with the hot vinegar mixture.
- Butter
- Adds richness and body to the dressing, carrying flavour and smoothing its texture.
- Vinegar
- Provides the sharp acidity that balances the sweetness and seasons the slaw.
- Flour
- Stabilises the butter into a smooth paste that helps thicken the dressing.
The step that matters
Pour the mixture over the beaten egg. The egg must be combined with the hot liquid gradually, or it can scramble. Hot liquid poured in steadily warms the egg gently, so it thickens the dressing smoothly.
“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.
More cold slaw recipes
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.