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 ↓
Hot Slaw
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Chop the cabbage and sprinkle with pepper and salt.
In a saucepan, mix the butter and vinegar, then heat over medium heat.
In a bowl, combine the eggs, milk or cream, and sugar.
Make the slaw
Slowly stir the egg mixture into the heated vinegar.
Add the cabbage to the mixture and let it scald 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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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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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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Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Thicken the warm dressing into a creamy, lightly set sauce that coats the cabbage.
- Vinegar
- Provides the sharp acidity that gives the slaw its tang.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth mouthfeel to the dressing.
- Milk or cream
- Adds moisture and richness, softening the sharpness of the vinegar.
- Sugar
- Balances the acidity of the vinegar with sweetness.
The step that matters
Slowly stir the egg mixture into the heated vinegar. Adding the eggs gradually, while stirring, tempers them so they warm evenly without scrambling. Adding them all at once can curdle the egg proteins into lumps.
Swap the cabbage
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, butter, egg, vinegar, milk, sugar):
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatofits better
- Mustardfits better
- Cabbagethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, butter, egg, vinegar, milk, sugar. 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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