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Ladies Cabbage

A baked cabbage custard topped with buttered breadcrumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Ladies Cabbage

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderately brisk oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderately brisk oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

Make the custard

  1. Beat the egg slightly and mix in the cream, melted butter, and boiled cabbage.

  2. Season with salt and white pepper to taste.

  3. Pour the mixture into a greased baking dish and smooth the top.

Bake

  1. Cover with the buttered bread crumbs.

  2. Bake until the custard sets and the top is lightly browned.

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. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  4. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Cabbage + breadtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together380 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Egg binds the mixture and helps the custard set when baked.
Thin cream
Adds moisture and richness to the custard, keeping the casserole tender.
Boiled cabbage
Forms the main body of the casserole and adds its mild, sweet flavour.
Buttered bread crumbs
Form a crisp, golden topping through browning in the oven.
Melted butter
Adds fat for richness and helps the top brown.

The step that matters

Bake until the custard sets and the top is lightly browned. Egg proteins set as they heat, so underbaking leaves a runny centre while overbaking can make the custard grainy and dry. Watch for a set centre and a light golden top.

Swap the cabbage

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, egg, cream, butter, white pepper):

  1. Potatofits better
  2. Asparagusfits better
  3. Leekfits better
  4. Cabbagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, egg, cream, butter, white 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.

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