Why it works: Carrot and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 21,601 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
With Cabbage
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cabbage
Cut the cabbages into four pieces and remove the core.
Soak the cabbage in cold water.
Parboil the cabbage for 15 minutes.
Drain the cabbage.
Braise
Place the drained cabbage in a saucepan with the salt pork.
Moisten the cabbage with fat stock.
Add the carrots and onion to the saucepan.
Cover the pan.
When the mixture boils, place the pan in a moderate oven.
Roast the partridges
Truss the partridges.
Lard the partridges' breasts with thin strips of salt pork.
Roast the partridges until nicely browned.
Finish and serve
Add the roasted partridges to the cabbage.
Cook for about one hour.
When done, drain the cabbage and place it on a dish.
Untie the partridges.
Glaze the partridges.
Set the glazed partridges on top of the cabbage.
Slice the pork and arrange it around the cabbage with the sliced carrots.
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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Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together21,601 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Cabbage + carrottop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,505 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Cabbage + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,001 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pork + oniontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,214 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pork + carrottop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,772 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
- Savoy cabbages
- Forms the bulk of the dish and turns tender during long, gentle cooking.
- Salt pork
- Adds fat and savory, salty flavor to the cabbage and the birds.
- Partridges
- Serve as the main meat, browned for color and carried by the cabbage.
- Carrots
- Add gentle sweetness and color to the braising liquid and dish.
- Onion
- Adds aroma and depth to the braising liquid.
- Fat stock
- Provides moisture and flavor for braising the cabbage.
The step that matters
Cook for about one hour.. Long, gentle cooking tenderizes the tough cabbage fibers and blends the flavors. Lean partridge meat can dry out if left too long, so check it near the end.
Swap the cabbage
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, carrot, onion):
- Potatofits better
- Turnipfits better
- Leekfits better
- Cabbagethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pork, carrot, onion. 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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