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 ↓
Red Cabbage
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the cabbage
Boil 12 pints of water in a large pot.
Add 2 chopped onions to the boiling water.
Once boiling, add the sliced cabbage and boil for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Season and finish
After cooking, add 4 tablespoons of vinegar, pepper, salt, and 1 teaspoon of sugar.
Thicken the mixture with ¼ teaspoon of flour.
Finally, add ⅓ cup of claret and cook for a few more minutes until absorbed.
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 + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,081 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + cabbagetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,001 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 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).
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Onion + vinegartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,226 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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 into a tender, mellow texture as it simmers.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and helps the cabbage keep its red color.
- Sugar
- Balances the sharpness of the vinegar and rounds out the sweet-sour flavor.
- Flour
- Thickens the cooking liquid so it clings to the cabbage instead of running thin.
- Claret
- Adds wine flavor and depth, with its acidity and tannins deepening the dish.
The step that matters
Adding the vinegar after the cabbage has cooked. Acid added early can toughen cabbage and dull its color, while adding it after the long simmer lets the cabbage soften first and keeps the red hue vivid. Adding flour to a liquid that is still boiling hard can also cause lumps, so stir it in evenly.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cabbage, vinegar, pepper, sugar, flour):
- Mustardfits better
- Radishfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, vinegar, pepper, sugar, flour. 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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