Why it works: Celery and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,169 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Cabbage Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
In a bowl, combine the chopped cabbage and celery seed or chopped celery.
In another bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, butter, pepper, salt, mustard, and vinegar.
Make the dressing and serve
Set the bowl with the mixture into hot water and stir carefully until it begins to thicken.
Let the mixture cool, then pour it over the cabbage.
If the salad is not moist enough, add a little more vinegar.
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.
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Celery + mustardtop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,169 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Cabbage + mustardtop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,645 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,081 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Cabbage + celerytop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,840 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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 salad and holds the dressing.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the dressing as they gently set in the warm water bath.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens the dressing and adds moisture to the salad.
- Mustard
- Adds sharp flavor and helps emulsify the dressing.
- Sugar
- Balances the acidity of the vinegar with sweetness.
The step that matters
Thickening the dressing over hot water. Egg yolks set when heated, but too much heat can scramble them into lumps. Stirring gently in a warm water bath lets the mixture thicken smoothly without curdling.
Swap the celery
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cabbage, egg, sugar, butter, pepper, mustard, vinegar):
- Tarragonfits better
- Dillfits better
- Capersfits better
- Celerythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, egg, sugar, butter, pepper, mustard, 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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