Why it works: Mustard and cabbage match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,645 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Cabbage Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dressing
In a dish, combine vinegar and butter, then heat on the stove until boiling.
Mix in mustard, brown sugar, milk, and the well-beaten egg, stirring until it boils.
Combine and serve
Chop the cabbage finely, season with salt and pepper, and add to the dressing.
Bring the mixture to a boil again, then let it cool before serving.
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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Mustard + cabbagetop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,645 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 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
- Egg
- Thickens the dressing as it cooks and gives it a creamy body.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that gives the dressing its sharp, tangy flavour.
- Brown sugar
- Balances the sharpness of the vinegar with a touch of sweetness.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth mouthfeel to the dressing.
- Cabbage
- Forms the bulk of the salad and soaks up the dressing as it cools.
The step that matters
Stirring the egg into the boiling dressing. Egg proteins set when heated, so if the mixture is poured in too fast or not stirred, the egg can scramble into lumps instead of thickening the dressing smoothly.
Swap the cabbage
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, butter, mustard, sugar, egg, milk, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Horseradishfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Cabbagethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, butter, mustard, sugar, egg, milk, 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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