Exciting Variations of Cabbage Salad

Fresh cabbage has a bad reputation; it is ignored, bad mouthed and considered something that is eaten only on last resort diets, not respectable enough for the gourmand palate. This is much better than the stigma it once had during the Middle Ages, where it was thought of as a poor man’s food, which could only be digested by the rough digestive system of the plebian or livestock, not fit for a rich man. Although the Europeans snubbed their noses at it, the Arabs enjoyed light, lemony preparations as part of their mezze in the hot afternoons of the Middle East.

There were plenty of stuffed cabbage or sauerkraut recipes in my cookbooks but very few using fresh cabbage. In Nawal Nasrallah’s Iraqi cookbook, Delights from the Garden of Eden, she has a refreshing carrot and cabbage salad using vinegar, olive oil, salt and parsley.  The Kurds of Northern Iraq combine red and white cabbage and dress it simply with lemon juice and olive oil. When my grandmother lived in Kurdistan she had a vegetable garden where she grew cabbages, along with cucumbers, tomatoes and other vegetables. She used only vinegar in the salad as lemon trees did not grow in Northern Iraq, or at least not in my grandmother’s village of Koysanjak. A Syrian version uses dried mint and lots of crushed garlic and at my favorite Yemenite restaurant the food is always accompanied with a dish of cabbage, parsley and coriander.  My neighbor, whose parents come from Tunisia makes a salad similar to Nawal’s recipe except she uses dill and this is the way I do it.

Cabbage salad

Salatat al-Malfuf

Cabbage is from the Cruciferae family and is native to the Mediterranean region. This plant originated from wild mustard and intensive breeding of this same mustard ancestor gave rise to broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts and kohlrabi. The ancient Greeks gave the cabbage the respect it deserved, but during the Middle Ages it lost its popularity and was eaten only by those with no choice.

½ white cabbage, shredded (about 2-3 cups)

2 carrots, grated

1 bunch dill, finely chopped

1/4 cups vinegar or lemon juice

Salt and pepper

Combine all the ingredients mix well. Marinate for about 30 minutes to soften the cabbage.

Variations and notes:

In the Levant a sauce is made by pounding garlic in a mortar and pestle with salt and slowly adding olive oil and lemon juice and mixing well.

To soften the cabbage, it is shredded, mixed with a copious amount of salt and left to rest for one hour. Before adding the other ingredients the salt is washed off completely.

My grandmother stays clear of garlic in all her fresh salads, including this one.

References:

Kurdistani Cooking by Varda Shilo

Delights from the Garden of Eden, by Nawal Nasrallah

A Mediterranean Feast, by Clifford A. Wright