Name: Cabbage Salad
Ingredients: 1 small head of cabbage; 2 teaspoons sugar; ¼ cup vinegar

Why it works: Cabbage and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,924 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Cabbage Salad

Ingredients

1 small head of cabbage
2 teaspoons sugar
¼ cup vinegar

Directions

Slice the cabbage very finely or chop it.
In a bowl, combine the cabbage with sugar and vinegar.
Toss well to ensure the cabbage is evenly coated.
Serve immediately or chill before serving.

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.

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 + vinegartop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,924 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,806 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Cabbage + sugartop 30% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,037 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Cabbage: Forms the bulk of the salad, and its fine cut gives it a tender, easy-to-coat texture.
Sugar: Adds sweetness that balances the sharpness of the vinegar.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that gives the salad its tangy flavour.