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Salad

Cold Slaw, or Salad Dressing

A cold cabbage slaw dressed with a boiled egg, milk, salt, mustard, sugar, vinegar, and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Sterrett, Laura C · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Mustard and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Cold Slaw, or Salad Dressing

eight persons

Ingredients

Directions

Make the dressing

  1. Combine one egg, two-thirds cup of sweet milk, one-half teaspoon of salt, one-fourth teaspoon of mustard, and sugar to taste.

  2. Bring the mixture to a boil.

  3. While hot, stir in vinegar to taste.

  4. Allow the mixture to cool completely.

Dress the cabbage

  1. Pour the cooled dressing over finely chopped cabbage.

  2. Slice cabbage very finely, season with salt, pepper, and a little sugar.

  3. Pour vinegar over the cabbage and mix thoroughly.

Serve

  1. Serve the slaw in the centre of a platter with fried oysters around it.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

239Calories
15 gProtein
14 gFat
14 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Mustard1 tsp (5g) yellow3
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Salt1 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.

By Sterrett, Laura C. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Milk + teatop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together738 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

  4. Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Tea + peppertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together260 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Thickens the dressing as it heats and helps it bind to the cabbage.
Sweet milk
Adds moisture and a creamy body to the dressing.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that sharpens the flavor and balances the sweetness.
Cabbage (in the method)
Provides the main bulk and a crisp, fresh texture.

The step that matters

Bring the mixture to a boil. The egg proteins thicken the dressing as it heats, but overheating can cause them to tighten and curdle, leaving a grainy texture.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, egg, tea, vinegar, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Potatofits better
  3. Asparagusfits about as well
  4. Mustardthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, egg, tea, vinegar, pepper. 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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