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Recipe for "coleslaw-1"

NAME

     COLESLAW-1 - Coleslaw in many variations
     My family loves to eat coleslaw. Unfortunately, we can never
     agree on the recipe. If I am making a slaw that my mother or
     sister will eat, I try to make a certain recipe with  mayon-
     naise  and  lemon  juice; if I make it for my lunch or for a
     picnic, I make an  entirely  different  recipe  loaded  with
     onions and herbs. Craig Claiborne likes to put caraway seeds
     in coleslaw. Betty Crocker suggests pineapple and  marshmal-
     lows.
     The Joy of Cooking wants you to dress the  slaw  immediately
     before  serving,  while Betty Crocker and Spice Islands want
     you to refrigerate for several hours.  The only  rule  seems
     to be to use fresh cabbage.
     Here's the generic recipe, with several variations.

INGREDIENTS (Serves 8)

     1         cabbage
     220 g     mayonnaise
     50 g      onion, diced very fine
     15 ml     lemon juice
     2.5 ml    black pepper

PROCEDURE

          (1)  Cut the core out of the cabbage and  cut  it  into
               pieces. My mother likes to cut it into big pieces;
               I like to cut it into little pieces. I  think  she
               wants  to make certain that nobody will accuse her
               of having used a food processor.
          (2)  Mix the pepper and lemon juice and onion  in  with
               the cabbage.
          (3)  Add the mayonnaise, mix well, and refrigerate.

NOTES

     Vary the amount of mayonnaise according to how much you  are
     worried  about  calories. Vary the amount of onion if you do
     or don't like raw onion.
     When I make coleslaw for my mother or sister,  I  leave  out
     the onion and the black pepper, and put in 15 g of sugar.
     When I make slaw for a picnic or barbecue or someplace where
     subtlety  will not be rampant, I add 5 ml of dry mustard, 10
     ml of paprika, and 2.5 ml of celery or caraway seed.  If I'm
     trying to astonish somebody, I will add nuts, cheese, tarra-
     gon, whipping cream,  chives,  whole  grapes,  frozen  peas,
     Tabasco  sauce, coriander seed, diced apples, or other herbs
     or textural-contrast ingredients. I have  not  yet  had  the
     nerve  to  try  the Betty Crocker suggestion of omitting the
     onion and then adding 200 g of chopped pineapple and 30 g of
     miniature marshmallows.

RATING

     Difficulty: easy.  Time: 10 minutes.  Precision: no need  to
     measure.

CONTRIBUTOR

     Brian Reid
     DEC Western Research Lab, Palo Alto CA
     reid@decwrl.DEC.COM -or- {ihnp4,ucbvax,decvax,sun}!decwrl!reid