Why it works: Vinegar and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,814 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Hot Slaw
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cabbage
Cut the cabbage into thin shreds as for cold slaw. (Use a plane if convenient.)
Boil it until tender in salted fast-boiling water.
Drain it thoroughly.
Make the sauce and serve
Make a hot sauce by melting one tablespoonful of butter, adding one half teaspoonful of salt, a dash of pepper and cayenne, and one half to one cupful of vinegar, according to its strength.
Pour the sauce over the drained cabbage.
Cover the saucepan and let it stand on the side of the range for five minutes, so that the cabbage and sauce will become well incorporated.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Cayenne | 1 tsp (1.8g) | 6 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 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.
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.
-
Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Butter + vinegartop 23% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,513 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
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 dish and, once boiled, becomes tender and soft.
- Butter
- Adds richness and carries the flavour of the hot sauce.
- Vinegar
- Adds sharp acidity that balances the richness of the butter and the sweetness of the cabbage.
The step that matters
Drain the cabbage thoroughly before adding the sauce. Water left on the boiled cabbage dilutes the buttery vinegar sauce, so it coats poorly and the dish tastes weak and watery.
“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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