Why it works: Cabbage and mustard 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 ↓
Cold Slaw
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cabbage
Shred the cabbage very finely.
Mix the cabbage with a French dressing using twice the amount of vinegar.
Make the dressing
For the dressing, heat 1/2 cup of vinegar with salt, sugar, mustard, pepper, and paprika.
Stir in the creamed butter while hot.
Pour the mixture over the beaten egg yolks.
Cook over hot water until it thickens slightly.
Combine and serve
Mix the dressing with the cabbage while hot.
Serve cold as a salad or with broiled fish or fried oysters.
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 + mustardtop 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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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).
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Cabbage + vinegartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,924 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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 salad and provides its crisp, fresh texture.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens the flavor and slightly softens the shredded cabbage.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the hot dressing as they cook gently, giving it a creamy body.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, silky texture to the dressing.
- Sugar
- Balances the sharpness of the vinegar with a mild sweetness.
- Mustard
- Contributes a sharp, pungent flavor that complements the vinegar.
The step that matters
Cook the egg yolks over hot water until slightly thickened. Egg yolk proteins set gently with moderate heat, which thickens the dressing smoothly. If the heat is too high or the cooking runs too long, the yolks can curdle and turn grainy, so stir constantly and stop as soon as it thickens.
Swap the cabbage
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, sugar, mustard, pepper, butter, egg):
- Horseradishfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Cabbagethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, sugar, mustard, pepper, butter, egg. 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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