My mate Naume did not mince words. He was a full blooded Macedonian who did everything with gusto. For many years, we had shared gardening interests, getting much pleasure from raising our seedlings and transplanting them into perfectly tilled and formed beds, and then nurturing them to perfect maturity.
Many a quiet beer was sipped at the end of a long, hard day, Naume and I quietly gazing down rows of the best produce a cook could dream of. This is a recipe he taught me, which, as simple as it is, is far better than any coleslaw you might imagine.
Written in 1992, Taking the Freshest Approach
Sadly, I had to rewrite this in the past tense as Naume passed away, too young.
INGREDIENTS
1 heavy drumhead cabbage
¾ tsp salt
3 tbsp white vinegar
3 tbsp sunflower oil (must be sunflower!)
METHOD
Cut the cabbage in half; this is a recipe for half a cabbage, but the best result will come from a whole cabbage cut rather than buying a half cabbage.
Shred one half and store the other half.
Place the shredded cabbage in a bowl. Over the top, sprinkle 1/3 of the salt, vinegar and oil.
With two large forks, toss the salad for one minute only.
Repeat this step twice using the remaining ingredients, then let the salad sit in the fridge to chill (minimum 20 minutes).
If your cabbage is a good fresh one, the dressing should be milky white.
