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Cabbage, Savoy, and Brussels Sprouts

A boiled dish of Savoy cabbage and Brussels sprouts seasoned with salt, baking soda, black pepper, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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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, Savoy, and Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wash and remove the outer leaves from the vegetables.

  2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the salt and baking soda.

Cook and serve

  1. Add the vegetables to the boiling water and cook until tender, about 10 minutes for Brussels sprouts and 30 minutes for Savoy cabbage.

  2. Drain the vegetables and serve hot.

  3. Season with black pepper and spread a little butter over them.

  4. Serve melted butter on the side.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,081 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  3. Brussels sprouts + peppertop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Cabbage + buttertop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,397 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  5. Brussels sprouts + buttertop 34% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together20 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Savoy cabbage
Becomes tender and sweet as it cooks, forming the bulk of the dish.
Brussels sprouts
Cook to tenderness and add a mildly sweet, earthy flavor.
Baking soda
Raises the water's alkalinity, which helps the greens keep a bright color while cooking.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture to the cooked vegetables.

The step that matters

Add the vegetables to the boiling water and cook until tender. Cabbage and sprouts need different cooking times, so cook them to tenderness rather than by a fixed clock. Overcooking releases sulfur compounds that give a strong smell and a soft, mushy texture. Keep the water at a full boil when the vegetables go in so cooking stays even.

Swap the brussels sprouts

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cabbage, butter, pepper):

  1. Cauliflowerfits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Leekfits better
  4. Brussels sproutsthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, butter, 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.

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