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RElish with Meats

A relish made from grated horseradish, chopped cabbage, and cooked beets, seasoned with vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Horseradish and cabbage match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 481 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

RElish with Meats

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Combine grated horseradish, chopped cabbage, and chopped beets in a bowl.

  2. Mix well and add vinegar until the mixture reaches a mustard-like consistency.

  3. Store in a cool place; it will keep all winter.

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. Horseradish + cabbagetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together481 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Horseradish + vinegartop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,609 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

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

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

What each ingredient does

Grated horseradish
Provides the sharp, pungent heat that defines the relish.
Chopped cabbage
Adds crisp bulk and a mild body to the mixture.
Cooked and chopped beets
Contributes color, mild sweetness, and moisture to the relish.

The step that matters

Adding the vinegar. Vinegar is added until the mixture reaches a mustard-like consistency. Too little leaves it wet and loose, while too much makes it harsh. Adding it gradually and mixing well lets you judge the texture as you go.

Swap the cabbage

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

  1. Mustardfits better
  2. Radishfits better
  3. Beetrootfits better
  4. Cabbagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against horseradish, 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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