Coleslaw, also written “cole slaw,” has become a part of traditional American cooking. In the United States, especially in the South, coleslaw is an important side dish. Coleslaw is a staple dish at picnics, barbecues, and has even made it onto some fast food chain menus. Many restaurants that specialize in sandwiches offer coleslaw with their sandwiches. Some restaurants, such as the Primanti Brothers Restaurant in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, actually include coleslaw as condiments within their sandwiches. While, in America, coleslaw often accompanies barbecue, hamburgers, hot dogs, and sandwiches, it is a common side dish to pizza in Sweden.

Many culinary experts and historians believe that coleslaw has been consumed, in its most basic form, since Roman times. However, modern coleslaw, which is made with mayonnaise, could not have been developed until the 18th century, when mayonnaise was created. In its simplest form, coleslaw is a white cabbage salad. Other fruits and vegetables such as apples, pineapples, red cabbage, and carrots may also be added to the salad. Once the vegetables have been shredded, a tart dressing made of oil and vinegar is added. This is coleslaw in its traditional form.

The popularity and long history of coleslaw has yielded many regional forms of the dish. Currently, the most common kind of coleslaw is dressed with mayonnaise instead of vinaigrette. However, in some places, coleslaw is dressed with mustard. There is a variation of coleslaw made with broccoli instead of or in addition to cabbage that is called “broccoli slaw.” No matter what type of dressing is used on the coleslaw or what vegetable variation makes up the slaw, the dish is almost always allowed to sit for a few hours or overnight before serving.

The word “coleslaw” most likely came from the Dutch word koolsalade, which means “cabbage salad.” However, in Dutch, koolsalada is often shortened to koolsla. It is easy to imagine how the Dutch koolsla was translated into the English “coleslaw.”

There are many cabbage recipes around the world. Coleslaw has culinary cousins all over the globe. Korean kimchi, for example, is a similar kind of cabbage side dish. Furthermore, sauerkraut is a very popular German cabbage side dish. In fact, Reuben sandwiches, which are traditionally dressed with sauerkraut and Russian dressing, are now often served with coleslaw.