Homemade best: 8 top coleslaws tested

THE Oxford Companion to Food tells us the term coleslaw came from Holland when kool (cabbage) and sla (an abbreviation of a word meaning salad) came together to describe shredded cabbage mixed with mayonnaise.

You can add carrot and onion for a traditional recipe or experiment with beetroot, fennel, and celeriac — once there is cabbage in the mix we can call it coleslaw.

A few top chefs mix just about anything shredded together and call it a slaw, which certainly makes life interesting. It’s not essential either to use mayonnaise and I have made some delicious slaws with an oil and vinegar dressing, serving Greek yoghurt mixed with grated garlic and olive oil on the side, thanks to Yotam Ottolenghi. See my blog rozcrowley.com for more ideas.