Why it works: Cabbage and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,645 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Corn Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the vegetables
Cut 12 ears of corn, 1 cup sugar, and 1 piece of cabbage.
Add 2 tablespoons salt and let stand to drain.
Chop peppers.
Cut corn off cobs.
Make the salad
Add 2 small peppers, 1 pound ground mustard, and 1 gallon good vinegar.
Stir mustard into a little vinegar.
If vinegar is very sour, dilute it with a little water.
Mix all ingredients together, and let come to a good boil.
Seal
Seal in cans or bottles.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Corn | 1/2 cup kernels (82g) | 77 |
| Broccoli | 1 cup chopped (156g) | 55 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Mustard | 1 tsp (5g) yellow | 3 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
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.
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.
-
Cabbage + mustardtop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,645 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Corn + mustardtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together463 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
-
Corn + cabbagetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together234 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
-
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
What each ingredient does
- Corn
- Provides the main bulk and sweet, tender texture of the salad.
- Cabbage
- Adds crisp body that holds its texture after draining and cooking.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the sharpness of the vinegar.
- Vinegar
- Provides the acidity that preserves and gives the salad its tang.
- Peppers (in the method)
- Adds heat and fresh, sharp flavor to the salad.
The step that matters
Let the vinegar mixture come to a good boil. Bringing the mixture to a full boil heats it enough to help preserve the salad before sealing. Undercooked mixtures spoil more easily, so the boil should be reached fully before the jars are sealed.
Swap the cabbage
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, corn, vinegar, mustard):
- Capsicumfits better
- Horseradishfits better
- Lettucefits better
- Cabbagethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, corn, vinegar, mustard. 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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