Why it works: Clove and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Pickled Cabbage
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cabbage
Cut the red cabbage in half, remove the stalk, and wash it well in salt and cold water.
Slice the cabbage thinly and lay the slices in a large pan.
Sprinkle a handful of salt over each layer of slices. Cover the top with salt.
Leave for two days, turning the slices morning and evening and adding more salt each time.
Drain the slices on a sieve for one day.
Make the spiced vinegar
In a saucepan, combine the vinegar, mace, cloves, allspice, peppercorns, and ginger, and bring to a boil.
Pour the hot vinegar and spices into a broad pan to cool.
Pickle and seal
Place the cabbage in a stone jar and pour the cooled vinegar and spices over it, ensuring the cabbage is fully covered.
As the cabbage soaks up the vinegar, add more vinegar if needed.
Seal the jar with wash‑leather, brown paper, or a bladder.
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.
-
Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,874 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,038 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Allspice + gingertop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,620 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Mace + clovetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,400 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
-
Mace + allspicetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,189 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Red cabbage
- Forms the bulk of the pickle and, once salted and softened, absorbs the vinegar and spices.
- Salt
- Draws water out of the cabbage slices, firming them and preparing them to take up the vinegar.
- Vinegar
- Provides the acidity that preserves the cabbage and gives the pickle its sharp flavour.
The step that matters
Adding more salt during the two-day rest. Salt draws water out of the cabbage through osmosis. Adding salt at each turning keeps the slices evenly firm and seasoned, so the cabbage stays crisp rather than soft.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cabbage, vinegar, clove, allspice, ginger):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Turmericfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, vinegar, clove, allspice, ginger. 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 pickled cabbage recipes
You might also like
Red Cabbage65 recipes
Stewed Cabbage58 recipes
Baked Cabbage51 recipes
Cabbage Dressing19 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.