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Cold Slaw

A chilled cabbage slaw with apple, onion, and vinegar dressing.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Cold Slaw

Why it works: Cabbage and onion match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,001 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Cold Slaw

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the cabbage in half, remove the heart, and shred it finely.

  2. Chop the onion and sour apple.

Season and serve

  1. Sprinkle the cabbage mixture with salt, white pepper, and sugar, then mix lightly with two forks.

  2. Heat the goose oil or butter and mix it thoroughly with the cabbage.

  3. Heat the white wine vinegar in a pan until boiling, then pour it over the slaw.

  4. Cover the slaw for a short time and serve cold.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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 + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,001 recipes

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

  2. Apple + white winetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together372 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  3. Butter + white winetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,083 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  4. White wine + vinegartop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,776 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Cabbage + appletop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together235 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

White cabbage
Forms the bulk of the slaw and provides its crisp, crunchy texture.
White wine vinegar
Adds acidity that gives the slaw its sharp, tangy flavour.
White sugar
Balances the acidity of the vinegar with a touch of sweetness.
Goose oil or butter
Adds fat and richness, coating the cabbage and carrying flavour.
Sour apple
Contributes tartness and a fresh fruity note that complements the cabbage.

The step that matters

Pouring the boiling vinegar over the slaw. Hot vinegar softens the shredded cabbage slightly and helps it absorb the seasoning, while the acid sharpens the flavour. Covering the slaw briefly keeps the heat and steam in so the cabbage softens evenly before serving cold.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cabbage, onion, apple, sugar, butter, white wine, vinegar):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Garlicfits better
  3. Tarragonfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, onion, apple, sugar, butter, white wine, 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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