Name: Cold Slaw
Ingredients: cabbage; coarse sea salt; vinegar; olive oil or sugar

Why it works: Vinegar and olive are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,297 recipes. Both carry isoamyl acetate, which smells banana, fruity. The science ↓

Cold Slaw

Ingredients

cabbage
coarse sea salt
vinegar
olive oil or sugar

Directions

Slice the cabbage as finely as possible.
Dress the cabbage with coarse sea salt, vinegar, and plenty of olive oil, mixing thoroughly.
Serve immediately at the table. Alternatively, omit the olive oil and use sugar instead.

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.

Vinegar + olivetop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,297 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
Cabbage + vinegartop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,924 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Cabbage + olivetop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together685 recipes

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