Why coleslaw is called coleslaw

The term "cole slaw" arose in the 18th century as a partial translation from the Dutch term "koolsla" meaning "cabbage salad". It was commonly called cold slaw in England until the s when "cole" meaning cabbage was revived.

In addition to calling it "coleslaw," U. Southerners also refer to it as "slaw. As the "Oxford Companion" explains, he worked himself into a sweat struggling to reconcile two conflicting prophecies and from that sweat sprang cabbage. Driven mad by Rhea, goddess of the earth, he mistook his son Dryas for a vine stock and cut him to pieces.

Cabbages are said to have grown from the sand where his tears fell. Pythagoras recommended it. So did Cato. He especially liked it raw, dressed with vinegar, a dish that must have been similar to coleslaw, and he regarded it as the secret to long life. He lived to be over Diogenes ate nothing but cabbage. Its a pity that the author finds it necessary to insert gratuitous vulgarisms in his writing. This could be used as as illustration of literary Tourette Syndrome.

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Email Address:. America Fun Fact of the Day. Have seen Rocky IV 87 times. Skip to content. That is why we here at AFFotD are making it our duty to present to you… The American History of Coleslaw Coleslaw, or a variation of a cabbage and vinegar based salad that involved eggs, has been consumed since Ancient Rome. This…just ugh. In the faaace. The term has persisted in Scotland as kale , which refers to a cabbage whose leaves curl outward instead of inward to form a head.

Most people think of kale as one specific vegetable but in fact there are many different cultivars, some with different names. The German version of the word cole exists in kohlrabi , meaning cabbage-turnip, which is another variety of cabbage.

The terms hole and hollow are also related, since originally the word had the connotation of describing a hollow stemmed plant. The original wild cabbage, which is indigenous to the coastal areas of western Europe and Great Britain, did not form tight heads like the varieties we think of today as cabbage.

The leaves grew outwards and the plant more resembled collards and the aforementioned kale than the domesticated varieties popular today. The word slaw, today, is no longer limited to just coleslaw. It has come to mean any type of dressed salad with shredded vegetables. Slaws may be sweet or savory, chilled or warm. But most of them still tend to contain some type of cabbage, probably because cabbage is able to be shredded and still give a good crunch. However, root vegetables, fennel, beets, carrots, and many other vegetables can be used.

The main difference, except for the shredding part, between a slaw and a regular salad is that a slaw can stand up to being stored to allow the flavors to meld with turning into a limp, soggy, mess.