Inauguration Slaw 44
18 January 2009 by Jean Johnson
With Barack Obama–our 44th history-making president– poised to take the helm, we’re all thinking about the inauguration. What better way to celebrate than making Inauguration Slaw 44.
Indeed, this slaw represents what Mr. Obama is about and what he’s asking from us as Americans. It’s about change–change in our consumption habits, both in the markets and in our kitchens. It’s about cooking for the new economy and our health–eating well even as we tighten our belts. It’s about getting out the grater.
More, slaws are quintessential winter foods since cabbage, carrot, and onion figure prominently–and are most likely items available closer than farther from our communities this time of year. Inauguration Slaw 44 embraces this local, seasonal ethnic fairly faithfully, although in a celebratory, extravagant moment I did purchase a jicama grown in Mexico and shred some of that into the mix, using the large holes on the grater to give the exotic food the attention it’s due.
This simple Inauguration Slaw 44 is also dressed for success. It’s designed to put a lavish sparkle in our eyes. An invigorating sparkle that will allow us to go the distance our president asks.
From Hippie Kitchen, Winter Chow chapter, p172.
Inauguration Slaw 44
Inauguration Slaw 44
The establishment never looked so good to hippie types as the day Barack Obama took the oath of office as the forty-fourth President of the United States. Perhaps that’s because President Obama has much about him that is not the establishment. We can only hope. Toward that end, here’s a simple winter slaw offered in the statesman’s honor.
Recipe Note
Grate cabbage, onion, carrots, and jicama. Dress for success with olive oil, champagne vinegar, celery seeds, salt, and red chile.
Details
~I used the big holes on the grater for the jicama in order to give it the prominence a luxurious food is due. Luxury, of course, because this root is imported clear from Mexico. Besides, when you shred on the big holes, things aren’t quite such a mess.
~Hand grating is messy, especially with cabbage. But when you have a big work surface the clean-up’s not too bad. Shredding on a hand grater—box graters help the cause since they stand firmly in place while you’re working—makes for such nice results. The shreds are thinner, more refined that what I’ve seen come from machine graters. And for your efforts, you get a big bowl of slaw that will feed the gang for days to come.
On Cooking for the New Economy—
Yes, we can buy processed food in cans and bags at the stores—even fresh vegetables all peeled and cubed for us. But we don’t know where or how these vegetables were grown and what decisions were made in the processing and transporting of them. Plus, the fresh flavor’s long gone. That’s why we want to dose them with more fat, sugar, and salt that our health can stand. All that and it’s expensive—10 to 50 percent extra—to pay other people to process and package our food for us. So it’s our choice. We can go for convenience and ante up big time, or roll up our sleeves and rediscover the pleasures of slicing and dicing.
