Why it works: Cabbage and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,081 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Pickled Cabbage
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cabbage
Trim outer leaves of the cabbage, cut the trimmed leaves into quarters, and remove the stalks.
Shred the tender leaves and place them in an earthen bowl.
Mix the shredded cabbage with ½ pound of coarse sea salt.
Pickle and jar
After three days, drain off the liquid.
Pack the cabbage into glass jars, filling each jar three-quarters full.
Add a few grains of pepper and 2 bay leaves to each jar.
Pour enough wine vinegar into each jar to cover the cabbage.
Seal the jars tightly and store them in a cool place.
After using, ensure each jar is tightly covered.
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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Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,081 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Wine + vinegartop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,493 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Cabbage + vinegartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,924 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Pepper + winetop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,066 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 pickle and provides the crisp texture that remains after brining.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws water out of the cabbage through osmosis, softening it and concentrating flavour during the initial salting.
- Best wine vinegar
- Supplies the acidity that preserves the cabbage and gives the pickle its sharp flavour.
The step that matters
Draining after three days. Salt has drawn liquid out of the cabbage over this period. Draining it off before packing removes excess brine, and the jars must then be covered with vinegar so the cabbage stays submerged and safe to keep.
Swap the cabbage
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, wine, vinegar):
- Capsicumfits better
- Tomatofits better
- Mustardfits about as well
- Cabbagethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, wine, 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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