Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Recipes: 11 cabbage salads


Cole slaw is the English transliteration of the Dutch word that means "cabbage salad." The name says nothing else about what the salad is composed of, and opinions on that differ.

Some slaw connoisseurs insist it must include mayonnaise while others swear by vinegar. Some recipes use a bit of both, but some make do with neither, using a citrus juice or yogurt instead. In this eclectic selection, other recipes branch out from the basic shredded cabbage and dressing of choice by adding other ingredients ranging from apples to toasted ramen noodles.

Try them all, if you like, and then come up with your own variation.

Here they are: Eleven cabbage salad, a.k.a. cole slaw, recipes.

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Market Report: Post-Katrina New Orleans, alive but ailing

I returned in March to New Orleans, a city that I fell in love with when I lived there for several year about a quarter of a century ago. I wanted to see how much had survived the devastating blow inflicted by Hurricane Katrina.

The short answer is, a lot survived. In fact, the city is so incredibly rich in local culture that if 90 percent had been wiped out, New Orleans would still have many times more character than most American cities. The damage wasn't nearly that extensive. Large, important areas of the city survived the wind and were untouched by flooding.

The longer answer, however, is that the city will never by the same. Endless miles of devastated neighborhoods still stand, untouched since Katrina, in large parts of the city. And more than half of the population is still missing.

The city's farmers markets are one sign of a return to a semblance of normalcy, though in March, only two of the pre-Katrina city's four markets were back in operation. The markets are cheering consumers, who are tired of long lines in the supermarket, and helping get farmers and fishermen back on their feet. Here's my report on farmers markets in New Orleans.