Why it works: Pepper and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,012 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Cold Slaw
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the vegetables
Crisp the cabbage in cold water, then drain and dry carefully.
Cut the cabbage in halves and shred it finely with a sharp knife.
Remove the white veins and seeds from the pepper, then cut it into tiny strips.
Mix the shredded cabbage and pepper together.
Serve
Serve with plain boiled dressing or French dressing.
Optionally, mix half white celery with half cabbage for variety.
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.
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.
-
Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,081 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Cabbage + celerytop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,840 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
- White cabbage
- Forms the bulk of the salad and provides its crisp, crunchy texture.
- Sweet green pepper
- Adds crisp texture and a mild, fresh sweetness to the slaw.
- Boiled dressing or french dressing
- Adds moisture and richness, coating the shredded vegetables with flavour.
The step that matters
Crisping the cabbage in cold water. Soaking the shredded cabbage in cold water firms its cell walls, so it stays crunchy rather than limp. Drying it thoroughly matters too, because surface water would thin the dressing and dilute its flavour.
Swap the celery
The recipe marks celery as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cabbage, pepper):
- Dillfits about as well
- Parsleyfits about as well
- Celerythe original
- Turmericfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, 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.
More cold slaw recipes
You might also like
Delicate Cake246 recipes
Boiled Frosting69 recipes
Citron Cake68 recipes
Scotch Cake63 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.