Why it works: Cabbage and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,397 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Cabbages, &C
Ingredients
Directions
Boil
Boil a large pot of water and add coarse sea salt.
Add the cabbage and cook until tender, then remove before it loses color.
Butter and finish
Chop the cabbage and place it in a saucepan with butter.
Stir for 5-6 minutes until the butter is melted, then serve.
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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Cabbage + buttertop 26% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,397 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cabbage
- Forms the body of the dish and gives it its tender texture once cooked.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, coating the cabbage and giving it a glossy, smooth finish.
The step that matters
Remove the cabbage before it loses color. Cabbage that cooks too long turns dull and grey and releases sulfur compounds, which give it a strong, unpleasant smell and flavor. Pulling it out once it is tender keeps its color and fresh taste.
“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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