Coleslaw

• 1. Introduction

  ›

  Coleslaw has a recipe on record from 1667, credited to a Dutch landlady. It appears in a cookbook called The Sensible Cook, or De Verstandige Kock. The author attributed it to the woman who rented him a room. She mixed thin strips of cabbage with melted butter, vinegar and oil. Today the same raw cabbage idea turns up on plates in many countries, usually under a very different dressing. How did a Dutch cabbage salad end up with an English name? What happened when a creamy sauce entered the picture? And why do cooks in so many places still disagree about what belongs in the bowl?

  86

• 2. A Dutch Name

  ›

  The Dutch word kool sounds almost exactly like the English word cole, and that echo made the name. In the 18th century, English speakers took the Dutch koolsla, meaning cabbage salad, and bent it into coleslaw. The dish itself is also said to have originated in the Netherlands in that same century. The word cole travels further back still, to the Latin caulis, which also meant cabbage. A vinaigrette version has a practical bonus, because the pickling effect of the vinegar gives it a long lifespan. Spelling never fully settled. Some cooks write cole slaw as two words, and across North America many people just say slaw.

  263

• 3. Enter Mayonnaise

  ›

  Mayonnaise was developed in the middle of the 18th century, and the most common coleslaw today owes its existence to that sauce. Set beside the older vinegar-based versions, the creamy recipe is a fairly recent innovation. By the 1997 edition of The Joy of Cooking, the book could say only one thing about the dish with confidence. Raw cabbage is the single ingredient that never changes. The type of cabbage, the dressing and the extras all vary. That book lists vinaigrette, mayonnaise and sour cream dressings. It also mentions bacon, carrots, bell peppers, pineapple, pickles, onions and herbs as possible additions. Other recipes bring in red cabbage, pepper, grated cheese, apple or pears, and a little celery seed is a common seasoning. The cabbage itself might be minced finely, cut into shreds or chopped into small squares. Some cooks even skip cabbage altogether. Broccoli slaw uses shredded raw broccoli in its place.

  92

• 4. Continental Cousins

  ›

  Traditional German Krautsalat marinates finely shredded cabbage in oil and vinegar. Cooks sometimes add onions or apples, and caraway is a frequent seasoning. In Italy, a version made with cooked ham and julienne-cut pepper goes by a livelier name, insalata capricciosa, or capricious salad. Poland has the widest family of relatives. There, a cabbage salad is a side dish for the second course at dinner, served next to meat and potatoes. No fixed recipe exists, but shredded white cabbage is typical, and red or Chinese cabbage are also common. Cooks add finely chopped onions, shredded carrots, and parsley or dill. Salt, black pepper and a pinch of sugar season the bowl, followed by a dash of sunflower or rapeseed oil and vinegar. Mayonnaise dressings are uncommon. A variant for fried fish swaps in sauerkraut, squeezed to remove the salty brine. Any simple salad of shredded raw vegetables is called a surówka, from surowy, meaning raw. When cabbage is the base, it becomes a surówka z kapusty, or cabbage salad. Writers who use the English name often spell it colesław or kolesław, the second form by analogy with Bolesław.

  19

• 5. Names and Borders

  ›

  Across Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, fresh shredded cabbage is traditionally tossed with carrots, apples and cranberries, then dressed with unrefined sunflower oil. Marinating the cabbage first in vinegar produces a dish called cabbage provençal, written капуста провансаль in Russian. A sauerkraut salad follows the same pattern. In Sweden, a seasoned vinaigrette cabbage salad is the usual companion to pizza, and it is simply called pizzasallad. Add other vegetables and it may become råkostsallad, meaning raw-food salad, or veckosallad, week salad, a name that nods to how long it keeps in the fridge. The Swedish word coleslaw, or kålsallad, is kept for cabbage dressed with mayonnaise, and Swedes typically see it as American food. In the United Kingdom, coleslaw usually has carrot and onion alongside the cabbage, with mayonnaise or salad cream as the dressing. Some British cooks stir in grated cheddar or walnuts.

  1011121314

• 6. American Tables

  ›

  Throughout the American South, coleslaw sits on the plate beside hushpuppies and French fries whenever fried fish is served. Barbecue is its other great partner. Across the United States, recipes often call for buttermilk, mayonnaise or a substitute, and carrot, though mustard or plain vinegar versions without dairy are also common. Buttermilk coleslaw is most often found in the South. North Carolina keeps its slaw fine and vinegary, ready to go with barbecue. Around Lexington, the slaw turns red because cooks use ketchup and vinegar instead of mayonnaise. There, unlike elsewhere in the state, red slaw is the prevailing kind, served beside Lexington style barbecue. In Memphis, Tennessee, the slaw carries mayonnaise and goes on top of pulled pork barbecue sandwiches. Tennessee also has hot slaw, flavored with jalapeño chilies and mustard. In 2024 it was named the first official state food of Tennessee.

  117181920