Coleslaw – from the 18th-century Dutch term koolsalade, or cabbage salad – has been undergoing a small transformation of late. Like many other culinary words – carpaccio, confit, trifle – its meaning has broadened, and now cabbage may not even be present at all. A slaw of fennel, for instance, is a crisp, cool starter when you introduce slices of apple or raw beetroot; radishes may pop up in a contemporary recipe, as might red onions or celery. The mayonnaise dressing of tradition could now be soured cream, yogurt or a vinegar and oil mixture flavoured with finely chopped chillies or roast or smoked garlic mashed to a cream with the back of a spoon.
Historically a side order, a slaw of some sort is also a good backbone for a main-course salad. Poached chicken, left to cool in its stock, sliced into thick pieces and tossed with a parsley mayonnaise, will turn the raw vegetables into a main course. As will crabmeat, white and brown, piled on top of a slaw of apples, red and white cabbage and dressed with a citrus mayonnaise. I recently made one where I tucked paper-thin slices of speck, the air-dried German meat, in among shredded beetroot.
The classic recipe of sliced white cabbage, carrot and onion with a mayonnaise-based dressing can be good, but only if freshly made. Too often the salad is a claggy lump of grated veg. The point is that the vegetables must be crisp. Cabbage, carrots, celery and fennel will crunch nicely if left for 20 minutes in iced water, where they will curl and reinvigorate. Drain them thoroughly – they will appreciate a ride in a salad spinner – then dress with a home-made mayonnaise you have lightened with a little yogurt or soured cream.
Whether the slaw is traditional or modern, I like to fold mustard, especially the grainy sort, chilli, grated horseradish and fresh herbs into mine, usually with great generosity. Coriander, hashed mint leaves, heroic quantities of parsley and even wispy fronds of dill will make your slaw sing. What we need is a slaw that dazzles rather than depresses.
Crab and apple slaw
If a bottle of yuzu, the aromatic Japanese citrus juice, proves elusive, and well it might, add a mixture of grapefruit and lemon juice to your mayonnaise instead. Fresh nori seaweed is available from the larger supermarkets and wholefood stores. Serves 2.
spring onions 2
red cabbage 100g
crisp, white cabbage 150g
apple 1
nori seaweed 80g, fresh
mayonnaise 2 heaped tbsp
yuzu juice 2 tsp
white crabmeat 250g
nigella seeds 1 tsp
Finely slice the spring onions and put them in a large mixing bowl. Finely shred the cabbage, either by hand or using a food processor, then add it to the onions. Without peeling the apple, halve and core it, then slice very finely. Toss with the cabbage. Lightly rinse the fresh nori and add to the bowl.
Put the mayonnaise in a small bowl, and add the yuzu juice and a little salt. Pour the dressing into the slaw and toss very gently so that most of the ingredients are coated lightly with the mayonnaise. Add the crabmeat, folding everything carefully together. Scatter with the nigella seeds and serve.
Tropical fruit slaw
Serves 4
mango 2, ripe
pineapple 1, small
watermelon 250g
charentais melon 1, small
ginger a lump the size of a walnut in its shell
lemongrass 1 large stalk
orange 1, large
banana 1, not too ripe
Peel the mango, then remove the flesh from the stone in pieces as large as possible, and cut them into very fine strips, like long matchsticks. Peel the pineapple then slice thinly and also cut into long, thick matchsticks. Do the same with the melon. Remove the skin from the watermelon, pick out the seeds, then cut the flesh into very thin slices as well. As you slice, try to catch as much of the juice as possible. Toss the shredded fruit together.
Pour the juice into a small saucepan, holding the fruit back with a spoon. Peel the ginger and grate it finely, collecting the juices and stirring them into the fruit juices with the grated ginger. Smash the lemongrass stalk with a heavy object and tuck into the pan. Squeeze the orange into the fruit juices, then warm gently over a moderate heat. As soon as the juices are approaching the boil, remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 15 minutes, then chill in a bowl of ice or a sink of cold water.
When the fruit juice is cold, strain through a sieve into the shredded fruits and leave for up to an hour or two, tightly covered, in the fridge. Just before serving, add the banana, peeled and cut into thick slices. Serve in small bowls.
Beetroot and fennel slaw
Serves 2
onion 1
red-wine vinegar 3 tbsp
beetroot 300g, raw
fennel 2 small bulbs
soured cream 150ml
olive oil 2 tbsp
speck 6 slices
Peel the onion and slice into thin rings, then put it in a small bowl with the red-wine vinegar and set aside for 20 minutes to remove the harshness of the raw onion.
Peel the raw beetroot, then slice into the thinnest possible rounds and place in a mixing bowl. Remove the fronds from the fennel bulbs and set aside, then slice the fennel very finely and add to the beetroot.
Put the soured cream and olive oil into a bowl and beat gently to thicken, then stir in a little salt and pepper. Drain the onion, discard the vinegar, and add to the beetroot and fennel. Introduce the dressing slowly, lightly mixing it into the vegetables. Pile on to a serving dish, add the speck, tucking the slices in around the fennel and beetroot, and then add the fennel fronds.
Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk
