You tell me what a slaw is; I can’t really give you a definition. Classic coleslaw is usually made of mayonnaise, shredded cabbage and maybe some other stuff — except when it isn’t. (I can tell you for certain that koolsla means cabbage salad in Dutch.)
But “slaw” has come to mean any shredded vegetable with dressing. Maybe you salt the vegetable and maybe you don’t. Maybe you chill it awhile after dressing it, which softens the vegetable and helps the flavors meld. Maybe you even let it sit in the fridge for a day or two, which doesn’t hurt it a bit. None of this is true, of course, for lettuce salads, which are usually dressed and served simultaneously.
All of this makes slaws convenient. If you expand the notion of slaw to include any vegetable that can benefit from the same kind of treatment — shred it, toss it with dressing (mayo-based or not) and serve whenever — you can call that slaw. Really good examples abound; some of them are here.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: New York Times
