Science of Cooking: Ask the Inquisitive Cooks! (2024)

Dear Patty,
Cabbage, the foundation of the salad called coleslaw, is an interesting vegetable. It's a member of the Cruciferae clan, more commonly known as the mustard family. All its members bear sulfur-containing compounds, which are volatile by-products of mustard oil.

When cabbage is left undisturbed in the garden, its mustard oils,which are attached to sugar molecules, simply remain unnoticed. But whengarden pests nibble cabbage leaves, these oils are indeed put to use.When plant cells are broken, the oils are separated from the sugarmolecules by an enzyme and released as a very bitter compound. It's aclever defense mechanism for the cabbage plant to discourage hungryforagers.

Of course, slivering or dicing cabbage to make coleslaw alsoruptures plant cell walls, so the same reaction is triggered. At first,any bitterness may seem pleasantly tangy as the salad's dressing mellowscabbage flavors. After a while, however, the released mustard oilsdefinitely become more noticeable and pungent.

Coleslaw is appealing in both its crunch and tang. It's at its best,however, when made shortly before it's eaten. So try to use only theamount you think will get eaten.

Good wishes,
Anne and Sue