Why it works: Mustard and horseradish match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,832 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Pickle Cabbage
Ingredients
Directions
In a large crock, combine the finely cut cabbage, sugar, green peppers, mustard seed, celery seed, coarse sea salt, grated horseradish, and alum.
Pack the mixture tightly in the crock.
Cover the crock with heavy muslin and then with a lid or cider vinegar jar.
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 + horseradishtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,832 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Mustard + celerytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,169 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Cabbage + horseradishtop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together481 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Cabbage + mustardtop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,645 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 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
- Cabbage
- Forms the bulk of the pickle and gives its crisp, crunchy texture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the sharp, salty tang of the pickle.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws water out of the cabbage and helps preserve it while it ferments.
- Horseradish
- Contributes a sharp, pungent heat that flavours the pickle.
The step that matters
Pack the mixture tightly in the crock. Packing removes air pockets so the cabbage stays submerged in its own brine. Exposed pieces can spoil or mould, so tight packing helps the pickle ferment evenly and keep well.
Swap the celery
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cabbage, sugar, pepper, mustard, horseradish):
- Capersfits better
- Dillfits better
- Turmericfits about as well
- Celerythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, sugar, pepper, mustard, horseradish. 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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