Name: Salad, Red Cabbage
Ingredients: 1 red cabbage; 2 heads of celery; 1-2 tablespoons salad sauce

Why it works: Cabbage and celery are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,840 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Salad, Red Cabbage

Ingredients

1 red cabbage
2 heads of celery
1-2 tablespoons salad sauce

Directions

Prepare

Shred the red cabbage and celery finely.
Mix the shredded cabbage and celery together.

Dress and serve

Add 1-2 tablespoons of salad sauce and mix lightly.
Garnish with tufts of celery and serve.

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.

Cabbage + celerytop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,840 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Celery + saucetop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,360 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Cabbage + saucetop 29% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together437 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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 salad and provides crisp, crunchy texture.
Celery: Adds crisp texture and fresh, mild flavour to the salad.
Salad sauce: Coats the shredded vegetables, adding moisture and flavour.