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 ↓
Cold Slaw
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dressing
Beat the eggs well in a bowl.
Mix the cream with the beaten eggs.
Stir the vinegar into the egg and cream mixture.
Place this mixture with the butter in a kettle and cook until thick.
Serve
Pour the dressing over the chopped cabbage.
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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Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,081 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cabbage + vinegartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,924 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Thicken the dressing when cooked, giving it a creamy, set body.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, velvety texture to the dressing.
- Vinegar
- Adds sharp acidity that balances the richness of the cream and eggs.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness to the cooked dressing.
- Cabbage
- Forms the bulk of the slaw and takes on the dressing's flavor.
The step that matters
Cook the dressing until thick. Eggs thicken as they heat but can curdle or scramble if overheated. Cook gently and stir constantly so the dressing sets smooth rather than grainy.
Swap the cabbage
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, butter, egg, vinegar, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatofits better
- Mustardfits better
- Cabbagethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cream, butter, egg, vinegar, 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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