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Dressing for Cole-Slaw
Beat the yolks of three eggs with half a teaspoonful of made mustard, a dash of pepper and one-fourth a teaspoonful of salt; add one-third a cup of vinegar and two tablespoonfuls of butter, and cook over hot water until slightly thickened.
Set aside to become cold before using.
A classic boiled dressing: egg yolks thickened over a water bath with vinegar and butter, tart rather than sweet, and meant to be poured cold over shredded cabbage. The whole thing takes about ten minutes.
- The hinge: never direct heatCook it in a bowl or the top of a double boiler set over barely simmering water, stirring constantly. Yolks begin to set from around 150F, and the vinegar lowers that further; a pan on the burner will take them past it in seconds, leaving you with scrambled egg in vinegar.
- "Made mustard"Prepared mustard from the jar, not dry powder. At the time that would have meant a sharp English-style or a plain table mustard; any smooth prepared mustard works, and a scant half teaspoon of Dijon is close in bite.
- Vinegar strengthVinegar was not standardised at the 5 percent sold now, so period cider vinegar may have been weaker or sharper than what you have. Taste the finished dressing while it is still warm; if it is harsh, let it down with a tablespoon or two of cream or milk after it has cooled.
- Order of additionAdd the vinegar to the beaten yolks gradually rather than all at once. Acid poured in as a slug can curdle the yolks before any heat reaches them.
- ButterTwo tablespoons is about 1 oz. Stir it in in pieces near the end, off the heat if the mixture is already coating the spoon; it enriches and stops the cooking as it melts.
- Thickness and cooling"Slightly thickened" means it will coat the back of a spoon, no more. It sets further as it chills, so pull it early. Cool it, then refrigerate and use it within a few days.
- YieldRoughly two-thirds of a cup, enough to dress a small head of cabbage, about 6 servings. Toss cold dressing with cold shredded cabbage shortly before serving or the salad weeps.
Boiled dressings of this kind were the American household standard well before bottled mayonnaise, and they persisted alongside it because they are cheap, are often said to keep better than an oil emulsion, and suit assertive vegetables like cabbage. The thickening is pure custard technique borrowed from the sweet kitchen, and the vinegar-and-butter combination gives the sharp, faintly creamy result still recognisable in Pennsylvania Dutch slaw dressings and in commercial "salad dressing" products. Janet McKenzie Hill, generally credited with compiling this book around the turn of the twentieth century and editor of the Boston Cooking School Magazine, was writing for cooks equipped with a double boiler and an interest in the chafing dish, and cole-slaw was then a staple of the cold supper table, the name itself generally traced to the Dutch koolsla, cabbage salad.