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Cabbage with Parmesan Cheese

A baked Savoy cabbage topped with cream sauce, Parmesan cheese, and bread crumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Cream and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,787 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Cabbage with Parmesan Cheese

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Remove the outer leaves of the cabbage.

  2. Cut the cabbage in half.

  3. Boil the cabbage in salted water for 20 minutes.

  4. Drain the cabbage.

Bake

  1. Place the cabbage in a baking dish.

  2. Pour the cream sauce over the cabbage.

  3. Dust the cabbage with grated Parmesan cheese.

  4. Dust the cabbage with bread crumbs.

  5. Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 15 minutes.

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. Cream + saucetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,787 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Parmesan cheese + breadtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together577 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Cream + parmesan cheesetop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,566 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).

  4. Sauce + parmesan cheesetop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,294 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanoic acid (soapy, waxy).

  5. Cabbage + breadtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together380 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

What each ingredient does

Savoy cabbage
Forms the bulk of the dish and becomes tender after boiling and baking.
Cream sauce
Adds moisture and richness that keeps the cabbage from drying out in the oven.
Parmesan cheese
Melts and browns on top, adding savoury flavour and a golden crust.
Bread crumbs
Forms a crisp topping that contrasts with the soft cabbage beneath.

The step that matters

Drain the cabbage well before saucing. Excess water left from boiling dilutes the cream sauce and makes the topping soggy, so the cabbage should be thoroughly drained before it goes into the dish.

Swap the cabbage

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, sauce, parmesan cheese, bread):

  1. Tomatofits better
  2. Spinachfits better
  3. Asparagusfits better
  4. Cabbagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cream, sauce, parmesan cheese, bread. 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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