Wilted Cabbage

A hot bacon dressing poured over raw shredded cabbage — the same technique as the wilted lettuce salads of the same era, scaled for a camp skillet.

• The hingeThe dressing must be genuinely boiling when it hits the cabbage. Poured hot, it collapses the leaves just enough to soften them while keeping some snap; poured warm, it only makes the salad greasy and limp in a dull way.
• Bacon quantityThe instruction to "crisp the bacon" carries no amount. For one medium head of cabbage, four to six slices gives enough rendered fat to coat the shreds — roughly a quarter cup of drippings.
• VinegarThe ingredient list as printed names no vinegar; it survives only in the closing cold-salad note. A sweet-sour wilted cabbage of this type is normally built on vinegar cut with a little water, heated with the sugar and seasonings in the bacon fat, so a line has probably dropped out. If reconstructing, something on the order of a third of a cup of cider vinegar to the two tablespoons of sugar called for gives a workable balance.
• CabbageShred fine, on the coarse side of a box grater or with a knife at about an eighth of an inch. Thick shreds will not wilt through and stay raw in the middle of the bowl.
• OnionA whole chopped onion is assertive against one head of cabbage. Half a small onion, or a few scallions, sits better with most modern palates; if using the full amount, rinse the chopped onion in cold water first to take off the edge.
• Serve at onceThis does not hold. Within twenty minutes the cabbage weeps and the dressing thins. Dress it at the table or over the fire and eat it immediately; four to six servings from one head.
• The second suggestionThe closing note on cabbage, lettuce and tomatoes with cold vinegar and sugar is a separate uncooked salad, not a variation on the hot dressing. Salt the tomatoes and drain them briefly or the vinegar arrives watery.