Published: 29 January 2022
Jump to RecipeThis tangy and versatile side dish dates back to the Ancient Roman times, although not in the form we know it as today! Coleslaw with a mayonnaise-based dressing, as most of us know it, first saw the light of day around the 18th century. The Dutch founders of New York would serve a shredded cabbage salad known as “koosla” using the cabbages they farmed along the Hudson River2. Over the years, “koosla” was eventually Americanized into “coleslaw” .
The beauty of this medley of finely sliced and raw vegetables is that, similarly to the Moroccan beetroot salad, it gets better and better with time. Not to mention it does most of the work for you! No cooking needed, just a little patience.
I always recommend making this the night before to allow all the raw ingredients to soften and the flavours to fully develop.
Creamy and Crunchy Coleslaw
Ingredients
- 1 white cabbage
- 2-3 carrots
- 1-2 green onions
- 1-2 celery stalks
Dressing
- 1 lime
- 1 lemon
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds (crushed in a mortar and pestle. You can also use mustard powder or Dijon mustard)
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise
Instructions
- Remove the outer leaves of the white cabbage and give it a wash. Cut in half, remove the hard stem at the bottom and slice into thin shreds. Add 6 cups of shredded cabbage into a large bowl.
- Wash and peel the carrots. Then, stab a fork into the thick end of the carrot and drag the peeler down the carrot to produce carrot ribbons. Stop once you reach the whiter core of the carrot and repeat with the rest of the carrots. Add 1 cup of carrot ribbons to the bowl.
- Wash and thinly slice the green onion and the celery. Add roughly 1/2 cup of each to the bowl.
- Add the ingredients for the dressing to the bowl and mix well using your hands to evenly distribute the sauce.
- Cover and let it rest in the fridge for at least 3 hours (preferably overnight).
Video
Notes
1Foreman, Amanda (2020). “The Delicious Evolution of Mayonnaise- Ancient Romans ate a pungent version, but the modern egg-based spread was created by an 18th-century French chef.” The Wall Street Journal.
2Sijs, N. v. d. (2009). Cookies, Coleslaw, and Stoops: The Influence of Dutch on the North American Languages. Netherlands: Amsterdam University Press.
