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Hot Slaw

A cabbage slaw dressed with a hot vinegar-based dressing.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Hot Slaw

Why it works: Cabbage and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,924 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Hot Slaw

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the slaw

  1. Slice half a head of cabbage.

Make the dressing

  1. In a bowl, combine egg yolks, cold water, butter, hot vinegar, and salt.

  2. Place the bowl over hot water and stir until the mixture thickens.

Combine

  1. Pour the dressing over the sliced cabbage and mix well.

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 + vinegartop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,924 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Butter + vinegartop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,513 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

  4. Cabbage + buttertop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,397 recipes

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

  5. Cabbage + eggtop 32% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,391 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-octenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Egg yolks
Thicken the dressing as they cook gently, giving it a creamy, smooth body.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth mouthfeel to the dressing.
Hot vinegar
Adds sharp acidity that balances the richness of the yolks and butter.
Cabbage
Forms the bulk of the dish and absorbs the warm dressing, softening slightly.

The step that matters

Stir the dressing over hot water until it thickens. Egg yolks thicken when gently heated, but if they get too hot they can scramble and turn grainy. Gentle, constant stirring over hot water keeps the dressing smooth.

Swap the cabbage

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, butter, vinegar):

  1. Cucumberfits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Mustardfits better
  4. Cabbagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter, 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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