Name: Roast Herb Salmon with Braised Red Cabbage and Mushroom Cheese Sauce
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 1 h
Yield: Serves 2
Ingredients: 1 tbsp olive oil; ½ onion; ½ red cabbage; 1 small apple; 4 tbsp red wine; 1 tbsp red wine vinegar; 2 tbsp clear honey; 1 tbsp brown sugar; 2 tsp ground cinnamon; small handful raisins; salt and freshly ground black pepper; , for greasing olive oil; 2 skinless salmon; 2 large tomatoes; 1 tsp milk; ½ lemon; 2 sprigs fresh thyme; 1 tsp dried basil; salt and freshly ground black pepper; 2 sprigs parsley; 2 large potatoes; large knob of butter; splash of milk; 1 tbsp olive oil; 8-10 button mushrooms; 50g/2oz butter; 50g/2oz plain flour; 570ml/1 pint full-fat milk; 30g/1oz grated cheddar

Why it works: Onion and cabbage match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,001 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

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.

Onion + cabbagetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,001 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Olive + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together29,779 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Apple + honeytop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together569 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Apple + red winetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together148 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
Red wine + vinegartop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together575 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

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

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, cabbage, apple, red wine, vinegar, honey, sugar):

Capsicumfits better
Mustardfits better
Tomatofits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, cabbage, apple, red wine, vinegar, honey, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Salmon	100g cooked	208
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Cheddar Cheese	1 oz (28g)	113
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Apple	1 medium (182g)	95
Honey	1 tbsp (21g)	64
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Broccoli	1 cup chopped (156g)	55
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Mushroom	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Basil	5 leaves fresh (2.5g)	1
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Roast Herb Salmon with Braised Red Cabbage and Mushroom Cheese Sauce