Salad, Red Cabbage

A two-ingredient winter salad that depends entirely on how finely the cabbage is cut and what dressing you put on it. The Victorian text assumes you already have a jar of "salad sauce" standing by.

• Salad sauceCassell's gives several salad sauces and dressings; a number are boiled or emulsified mixtures of egg yolk, mustard, oil, vinegar and cream, closer to modern salad cream than to vinaigrette. A well-seasoned mayonnaise slackened with a little cream and vinegar gives much the same effect, and a spoonful or two is all this needs.
• Shred as thin as you canThis is the hinge. Raw red cabbage cut thick is tough and squeaky; on a mandoline or with a long knife it should come off in shreds no more than a couple of millimetres wide. Discard the tough core and outer leaves and use the pale, dense heart.
• "Two heads of celery"Victorian trench-grown celery was generally a smaller, leafier plant than a modern bunch, so one large supermarket bunch, with the stringy outer ribs peeled or set aside for stock, is probably about right for a single firm cabbage. The recipe gives no weights.
• The garnish"Tufts of celery" most likely means the pale inner hearts with their leaves still attached, split lengthways. Keep them in iced water while you work and they will curl and crisp.
• Salt and standing timeThe recipe gives no salt. Tossing the shredded cabbage with a teaspoon of salt, resting it twenty minutes and squeezing it dry softens the texture and keeps the dressing from turning watery on the plate.
• ColourRed cabbage bleeds purple into a creamy dressing as it stands. Dress it shortly before serving if appearance matters; a little vinegar or lemon in the sauce helps hold the colour on the red side rather than letting it shift towards blue.
• YieldRoughly six to eight as a side dish, though the recipe gives no quantity or serving suggestion. It suits cold weather and cold meats.