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Cabbage Slaw

A cabbage slaw made with milk, egg, vinegar, butter, and optional mustard.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Cabbage and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,645 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Cabbage Slaw

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Combine the finely chopped cabbage, milk, salt, pepper, and mustard (if using) in a bowl.

  2. Beat the egg and mix in the vinegar in a separate bowl.

Cook

  1. Melt the butter in a pan over low heat, then add the cabbage mixture.

  2. Pour the egg and vinegar mixture over the cabbage and cook gently, stirring until heated through.

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 + mustardtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,645 recipes

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

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

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

  3. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 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

Cabbage
Forms the bulk of the dish and provides the crisp-tender texture once gently cooked.
Egg
Beaten and poured in to lightly set and bind the cabbage into a creamy coating.
Milk
Adds moisture and richness, softening the dish and mellowing the vinegar.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that gives the dish a sharp, tangy flavour.
Butter
Adds fat and flavour to the pan, helping the cabbage cook gently without drying out.

The step that matters

Pour the egg and vinegar mixture over the cabbage and cook gently. Egg proteins set with gentle heat, while high heat or overcooking turns them grainy and watery. Stirring constantly over low heat keeps the egg smooth and evenly distributed through the cabbage.

Swap the mustard

The recipe marks mustard as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cabbage, milk, pepper, egg, vinegar, butter):

  1. Capsicumfits about as well
  2. Mustardthe original
  3. Potatofits about as well
  4. Cauliflowerfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, milk, pepper, egg, vinegar, butter. 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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