Why it works: Mustard and cabbage match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,645 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Cabbage Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dressing
Combine cream, beaten eggs, melted butter, pepper, salt, mustard, and vinegar in a bowl.
Place the bowl in a kettle of cold water and cook the mixture over low heat, stirring constantly until thickened.
Dress and serve
Pour the dressing over the chopped cabbage and stir thoroughly to combine.
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.
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Mustard + cabbagetop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,645 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + cabbagetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,081 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Thicken the dressing as they cook and set, giving it a creamy body.
- Butter
- Adds richness and smooth mouthfeel to the dressing.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that gives the dressing its tangy flavor.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness, softening the dressing's sharpness.
- Mustard
- Adds sharp flavor and helps emulsify the dressing.
- Cabbage
- Forms the body of the salad and soaks up the dressing.
The step that matters
Cook the dressing gently over low heat. Eggs thicken as their proteins set, but too much heat makes them scramble into lumps. Stirring constantly and cooking over gentle water keeps the dressing smooth.
Swap the cabbage
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, egg, butter, pepper, mustard, vinegar):
- Horseradishfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Chivefits better
- Cabbagethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cream, egg, butter, pepper, mustard, vinegar. 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.
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