Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Warm Slaw
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dressing
In a saucepan, combine the egg yolks, sugar, sour cream, and vinegar.
Add the butter and heat the mixture over medium heat until it boils.
Serve
Pour the hot mixture over finely cut cabbage.
Serve immediately.
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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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the warm dressing into a smooth, creamy sauce as they set with heat.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the sharpness of the vinegar.
- Sour cream
- Adds richness and a tangy body to the dressing.
- Vinegar
- Provides acidity that gives the dressing its sharp flavour.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a glossy texture and rounder flavour.
The step that matters
Heating the mixture until it boils. Egg yolks thicken through gentle heat, but overheating can scramble them into lumps. Stir constantly over medium heat so the sauce thickens evenly and stays smooth.
“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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