Why it works: Vinegar and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Cold Slaw
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dressing
In a saucepan, combine cream, vinegar, sugar, eggs, butter, mustard, pepper, and salt.
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens like custard.
Remove from heat and let cool.
Assemble
Once cool, pour the mixture over finely chopped cabbage and mix well.
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.
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Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 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
- Eggs
- Thicken the dressing as they set during gentle cooking, giving it a custard-like body.
- Cream
- Adds richness and body, softening the sharp bite of the vinegar.
- Vinegar
- Provides the acidity that gives the slaw its tang.
- Sugar
- Balances the acidity with sweetness.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a smoother, rounder texture in the cooked dressing.
The step that matters
Cooking the custard over low heat. Eggs thicken as their proteins set, but if the heat is too high or stirring stops, they can scramble and curdle. Low heat with constant stirring keeps the dressing smooth.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, vinegar, sugar, egg, butter, pepper):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Mustardthe original
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Potatofits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against cream, vinegar, sugar, egg, butter, pepper. 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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