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Red Cabbage Salad
One-half of a pint each of shredded red cabbage and finely cut celery; mix all together, season well with salt and pepper, add one-half teaspoonful of onion juice and a pinch of ground cloves, add six tablespoonfuls of olive oil, and when well blended, two tablespoonfuls of vinegar or three of lemon juice. Turn into the salad bowl and sprinkle with finely chopped parsley.
A plain oil-and-vinegar slaw, dressed in the bowl rather than with a premixed vinaigrette. The proportions are unusually oil-heavy by modern taste.
- The measuresHalf a pint is one cup, so this is one cup shredded red cabbage and one cup finely cut celery — about two generous side servings. Shred the cabbage as thinly as you can manage; coarse chunks will not take the dressing.
- Oil to acidSix tablespoons of oil to two of vinegar is a 3:1 ratio, on the rich side for a raw cabbage salad. Cut the oil to four tablespoons if you want the vegetables to read as crisp rather than coated.
- Onion juiceA period staple: grate an onion on the fine side of a box grater and press the pulp through a sieve, or simply grate the onion directly and use half a teaspoon of the pulp. It gives the sharpness without leaving raw pieces.
- Ground clovesA pinch means a pinch. Cloves at any greater quantity will take over the bowl entirely; measure into your palm first rather than shaking from the jar.
- Seasoning orderSalting the cabbage and celery first, as written, draws out a little water and lets the dressing cling. Toss the vegetables with salt and pepper, wait a few minutes, then add the oil and finally the acid.
- TimingDressed celery goes limp and salted cabbage keeps releasing water, so the salad loosens as it stands. Dress within half an hour of serving.
Red cabbage reached American tables in large part through German and Dutch kitchens, where it was more often cooked with vinegar and spice than served raw, and the pinch of cloves here may be an echo of that braised tradition on a cold dish. Turn-of-the-century American cookbooks were also in the midst of a long enthusiasm for olive oil salads, promoted as both French and healthful, and their salad chapters swelled accordingly. Onion juice, called for constantly in this period, suggests a taste for onion flavour without visible onion.