Re: Cole Slaw (previously gilded inlay)

[Seth Austen <klezmusic...>]

on 1/18/02 10:57 PM, Joshua Horowitz at horowitz (at) budowitz(dot)com wrote:

> "What about just a plain old side of cole slaw? You know, the traditional
> kind."
> 
> "You mean, like, with sweet watery mayonnaise dripping off of wilted
> shredded white cabbage?"

Josh,

Great posting. I'm so glad you brought this subject up. In my travels to the
backwoods of Appalachia, hot on the trail of the missing Child ballads from
the repertoire of legendary blues man Robert Johnson, I had the good fortune
to meet an octogenarian Jewish gentleman at the crossroads who had been an
old-time fiddler, talmudic scholar and cook! When he mentioned cole slaw,
out came my trusty minidisc recorder. I crammed the mic right under his
nose, and got the following recipe:

You must use white cabbage, this signifies a purity of spirit. No other
color of cabbage is acceptable. And of course the Ashkenazi connection to
white cabbage cannot be denied. A primal food staple of our eastern-European
forefathers. So, you cut finely the whole cabbage, 613 slices to be exact,
paper thin. The significance of this number, I don't have to tell you. Then
you add the caraway seeds. Caraway seeds are the connection to the Levites,
as in the bakers of rye bread, this signifies multiplying the seed of
Israel. Now the truly important part, mix together the mayonnaise and
vinegar, when you arrive at a consistency of 22% wateriness (for the 22
letters of the aleph bet), you have achieved perfection in cole slaw. This
you should serve along with a nice glass of ice tea!

This last part brings up the fascinating Jewish connection to the southern
practice of drinking iced tea in a glass, but that's a story for another
time and place.

your friend in further ethnomusicological adventures,

Seth

-- 
Seth Austen

http://www.sethausten.com
emails: seth (at) sethausten(dot)com
klezmusic (at) earthlink(dot)net


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