Cole slaw, pointy-head style

Behold the pointy cabbage.

I found this fine fellow on Saturday during a reconnaissance mission to the Smithfield farmers market. There, Ivor farmer Ashton Wells Jr. displayed a row of these guys for only $1 each.

Farmer Wells explained that pointy cabbages are shaped this way because they don’t bolt into flowers and seed like fall cabbages do. And he said that they are sweeter and crunchier than fall cabbages and perfect for summer slaw.

For some reason, standing in the market, those last words, “summer slaw,” hit me like a bolt.

Although surrounded by all manner of food – bison, fresh-baked rhubarb pies, onions, beets, greens, beans, coffee, and that big, old barbecue sandwich that The Baby Girl was gnawing for breakfast – I just couldn’t stop thinking about cole slaw – specifically, my grandfather Mark’s cole slaw.

When I lived with my grandfather for a spell in Cocoa Beach, Fla., Mark (I always called him that, and I don’t know why) made the most wonderful cole slaw – vinegary, not creamy (because, mayonnaise? Blech!). It was cool and wonderful and tasted as healthy as eating an apple.

So I bought one of Farmer Wells pointy cabbages. Back home the search began for my grandfather’s recipe. I have a few of his old volumes, classics like “The Physiology of Taste,” by Brillat-Savarin and “How to Cook a Wolf,” by MFK Fisher.

I have some cookbooks, too, including “Esquire’s Handbook for Hosts,” circa 1949, and those witty Charles H. Baker Jr. volumes.

I found out that I come by this food obsession honestly. But I couldn’t find the cole slaw recipe I craved.

Last chance was “The Fannie Farmer Cookbook,” a volume with pages the color of crème brulee. Pressed between the covers was a recipe for “Easy Brandied Beans” clipped from a newspaper so long ago that it’s the color of caramel. Another, in my grandfather’s slanted script, was for “Liverwurst Spread-Dip.”

My heart skipped half a beat when I found Fannie Farmer’s recipe for cole slaw. The corner of the page had been turned down, it’s place marked as special. Reading through the recipe, it called for “1 cup of Boiled Dressing (p. 451)”. That's it, pictured below.

When I saw that Page 451 was also marked, I knew I had it. Mark’s cole slaw!

Now, when Mark made cole slaw, he used his Mark IV blender, a stainless steel monster with a 10-pound base and a metal – not glass or plastic – vessel. When he passed away, I quietly took the blender as my inheritance, and later earned quite a reputation as a frozen drink maker, something that would have made Mark proud.

The Mark IV met its demise at the hand of some hurricane or another when ocean water swept into the ground floor of an Outer Banks beach cottage.

And get this: My new blender, a fancy-schmancy Cuisinart, wasn’t up to the job, just chopping a quarter cup or so of slaw over and over in its dimpled bottom.

I’ll spare you the details, but let’s just say that I had a celebration of cabbage confetti on my countertop and floor when I finally finished. But totally worth it. The cole slaw, although not as healthy as I once thought, is exactly the slaw I remember.

Cole Slaw
1 medium head cabbage
1 cup Boiled Dressing (recipe below)
1 teaspoon celery seed
Salt

Cut the head of cabbage in half, place in a bowl of cold water, and refrigerate for 1 hour. Drain well. Shred finely, and add the dressing and celery seed. Toss to mix well and add salt to taste.

Boiled Dressing
1 ½ tablespoons flour
1teaspoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon sugar
2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1 ½ tablespoons butter, melted
¾ cup milk
¼ cup vinegar
Salt

Combine the flour, mustard, and sugar in a heavy-bottomed pan. Slowly add the yolks, cayenne pepper, melted butter, milk, and vinegar. Heat, stirring constantly, over low heat until thickened and smooth. Add salt to taste. Remove and store covered in the refrigerator until needed.

Source: “The Fanny Farmer Cookbook”

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