Why it works: Cabbage and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,081 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Cabbage Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cabbage
Soak the cabbage in cold water for a while to make it crisp.
Dry the cabbage well and shave it as finely as possible.
Make the dressing
In a bowl, rub together the butter and flour until smooth.
Stir in the vinegar and heat the mixture for one minute.
Remove from heat and add the beaten egg yolk and cream.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
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 + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,081 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Walnut + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,873 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Walnut + peppertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,039 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cabbage
- Forms the crisp, bulk body of the salad and is shaved fine for a tender bite.
- Butter
- Enriches the dressing and gives it a smooth, rich mouthfeel.
- Flour
- Combines with the butter to form a paste that thickens the dressing.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens the dressing's flavor.
- Egg yolk
- Emulsifies and thickens the warm dressing, giving it a creamy body.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness, softening the dressing's sharpness.
The step that matters
Remove from heat and add the beaten egg yolk and cream. Egg yolk thickens when heated, so if the mixture is too hot when it is added, it can scramble into lumps. Taking the pan off the heat first lets the yolk thicken the dressing smoothly.
Swap the cabbage
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, walnut, flour, vinegar, egg, cream, pepper):
- Shallotfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Spinachfits better
- Cabbagethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, walnut, flour, vinegar, egg, cream, 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 cabbage salad recipes
You might also like
Cabbage Dressing9 recipes
Chicken Salad623 recipes
Salad Dressing491 recipes
Tomato Salad179 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.