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To Stew Red Cabbage

A slow‑cooked red cabbage stew flavored with butter, vinegar, pepper, salt, and optional lemon juice or gravy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Eliza Acton · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 6 ingredients
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To Stew Red Cabbage

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 ↓

To Stew Red Cabbage

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Strip the outer leaves from a fine and fresh red cabbage, wash it well, cut it into the thinnest possible slices, and remove the stalk by splitting it in quarters and taking it out.

  2. Put the sliced cabbage into a thick saucepan in which two or three ounces of good butter have just been dissolved.

Stew

  1. Add some pepper and salt, and stew the cabbage very slowly for three or four hours in its own juice, keeping it often stirred and well pressed down.

  2. When the cabbage is perfectly tender, add a tablespoonful of vinegar; mix thoroughly.

Serve

  1. Heap the cabbage in a hot dish, and serve with broiled sausages round it, or omit the sausages and substitute lemon juice, cayenne pepper, and a half-cupful of good gravy.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

117Calories
0 gProtein
12 gFat
3 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6
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 Eliza Acton. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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.

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

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

  2. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

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

  3. Butter + vinegartop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

Red cabbage (in the method)
Forms the bulk of the dish and softens into tender strands as it stews in its own juice.
Butter
Enriches the cabbage and carries flavour, adding richness to the slow-cooked vegetable.
Vinegar
Added at the end to brighten the flavour and balance the sweetness of the stewed cabbage.

The step that matters

Stewing slowly for three or four hours. Low, slow heat with frequent stirring lets the cabbage soften evenly in its own juice without scorching on the base of the pan. Adding vinegar only after the cabbage is tender keeps its acid from toughening the cell walls early, so the cabbage stays soft.

“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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