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 Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Chop the cabbage and finely cut the tomatoes and peppers.
In a large bowl, combine the chopped cabbage, tomatoes, and peppers.
Dress and chill
Add the vinegar and sugar, then season with salt and pepper to taste, and stir lightly to mix all ingredients.
Let the salad stand in the refrigerator for several hours before serving.
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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Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,081 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Cabbage + tomatotop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together333 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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Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 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
- Cabbage
- Forms the bulk of the salad and provides its crisp, crunchy texture.
- Tomatoes
- Add moisture and juiciness to the salad.
- Sweet peppers
- Add crunch and mild, fresh sweetness.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and softens the cabbage slightly as it stands.
- Sugar
- Balances the acidity of the vinegar with sweetness.
The step that matters
Letting the salad stand in the refrigerator. Resting time lets the vinegar and sugar penetrate the vegetables and draw out some moisture, softening the cabbage and blending the flavors. Serving too soon leaves the salad sharp and crisp rather than well integrated.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cabbage, pepper, vinegar, sugar):
- Mustardfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Radishfits better
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cabbage, pepper, vinegar, sugar. 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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