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Partridges with Red Cauhage

Stewed partridges served over sautéed shredded red cabbage.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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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 ↓

Partridges with Red Cauhage

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the cabbage

  1. Wash and finely shred the red cabbage.

  2. In a stewpan, melt the butter over medium heat.

  3. Add the cabbage, pepper, and salt; stir to combine.

  4. If the cabbage sticks, add a small ladle of consommé until tender.

Finish and serve

  1. Once cooked, mix in the vinegar.

  2. Arrange the cabbage on a serving dish and top with the stewed partridges.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,081 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Cabbage + vinegartop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,924 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Butter + vinegartop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,513 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Red cabbage
Forms the bulk of the dish and softens as it cooks down into a tender base.
Butter
Adds fat and richness, and helps the cabbage cook without sticking at the start.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens flavor and helps keep the cabbage's red color vivid.
Partridges
Provide the main protein and rich, gamey flavor that the cabbage sets off.

The step that matters

Cooking the cabbage without it sticking. Shredded cabbage can scorch on the pan base before it releases its water. Adding a little consommé loosens the pan and provides moisture so the cabbage steams and turns tender rather than burning.

Swap the cabbage

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, pepper, vinegar):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Mustardfits better
  3. Cabbagethe original
  4. Onionfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, pepper, vinegar. 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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