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 ↓
Cabbage Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the cabbage
Boil the cabbage until tender, then drain and chop it finely.
Mix and bake
In a bowl, combine the chopped cabbage, butter, beaten eggs, sweet milk, sugar, salt, and pepper. Stir all the ingredients together until well mixed.
Pour the mixture into a baking dish.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 1 hour.
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.
-
Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,081 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and set into a firm, sliceable pudding when baked.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, giving the pudding a softer, moister texture.
- Sweet milk
- Provides the liquid that the eggs set in, keeping the pudding moist.
- Cabbage
- Forms the main body of the pudding, with its tender chopped texture.
The step that matters
Bake until set. Eggs set as they heat, so the pudding must bake long enough to firm through. Underbaking leaves it loose and wet in the center.
Swap the cabbage
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, milk, sugar, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatofits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Cabbagethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, milk, sugar, pepper. 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.
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Red Cabbage65 recipes
Stewed Cabbage58 recipes
Baked Cabbage51 recipes
Cabbage Dressing19 recipes