The Ballfields

On Saturdays and Sundays, one of the Red Hook ballfields in Brooklyn, NY, at the corner of Clinton and Bay Streets, is lined with food carts serving up a variety of Central and South American food. Below are two papusas, one bean and cheese, the other loroco flower and cheese, accompanied by pickled cabbage. The loroco flower is native to Central America and is edible. It tastes like asparagus-brocolli, or maybe chicken.Pickled cabbage, which I know involves at least salt and vinegar, is a truly altered product. It requires a handful of spices to reach its transformed state. I'm still more interested in the raw, but the purple stuff was good, still crunchy, and then tangy and salty. It's a good way to hold on to fluids on a hot summer day.

BBQ (not Dallas)

Dallas BBQ is a New York City chain that used to claim this location. With a slightly modified sign and a similar menu BBQ is still serving up cheap food to NYU students and locals. New York Magazine talks about the split from Dallas here. I recently had the pulled pork platter with a side of coleslaw. $8 only gets you so much: tough pork and bland slaw. The photo is a horrible one but it's included because it matches the quality of the food.


21 W. 8th Street, near Fifth Ave.
New York, NY
212-674-4450

American Slaw

Brent's General Store in Amagansett makes its own coleslaw, the dribbly all-American kind. It was displayed in a glass refrigerator case with a big spoon sitting in the long rectangular dish. Give me a pound. It looks especially good with a plate of ribs. Happy Birthday America! Thank you cabbage farmers.

Hot Dog Slaw

Crif Dog specializes in hot dogs, so I chose a dog with coleslaw only. The wiener was wedged in the bottom of the bun, and the coleslaw was pushed toward the top. I wish the meat and chopped cabbage had been in closer contact as I enjoyed my meaty snack.After partaking I met a friend and we moved through the phone booth to PDT. Over a couple exotic expensive cocktails and reasonably priced but small brews we split a Chang dog, named after David Chang and loaded with kimchee. A cabbage concoction almost unrecognizable from its former self, it was still a delicious treat.

113 St Marks Pl
New York, NY 10009
(212) 614-0386

Tex-Mex Slaw

This recipe was provided by a wonderful cook and friend whose meals will be available for delivery to your brooklyn home soon. She indulges my obsession for slaw. Most recently she made this delight. Radishes are an excellent addition.

Recipe courtesy of Kara Zuaro

Chipotle-Spiked Tex-Mex Slaw

This slaw is easy to make if you have a food processor with a shredding blade. (If you're going to grate the cabbage and carrot by hand, it's going to take a while and may put your knuckles in danger!) If you've got a corn stripper — something that's on my kitchen gadget wish list — it'll be even easier.

ORANGE-CHIPOTLE MAYONNAISE:
1 cup mayonnaise (I use low-fat)
3 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoon minced canned chipotle chilies

FOR THE SAUCE:
juice of 1 lime
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon ground cumin
salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

FOR THE SLAW:
1 head of green cabbage, shredded
1/2 head of red cabbage, shredded
1 very large carrot, shredded
1 bunch of radishes, thinly sliced
2 ears of corn, kernels stripped from the cob
1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro

First, combine the mayonnaise, orange juice, and chipotle chilies (which you buy in a can in the Latin American foods aisle). This is more mayo than you'll need, but you can keep the leftovers in your fridge to jazz up sandwiches or to serve with some delicious Jamaican Jerk Burgers.

Mix 1/4 cup of the orange-chipotle mayonnaise with, lime juice, vinegar, honey, cumin, salt, and pepper in small bowl.

Combine cabbage, carrots, radishes, corn, and cilantro in large bowl, and add the sauce. Taste a little – if it needs more of a kick or seems a bit dry, add more of the orange-chipotle mayo. Serve immediately, or chill in the fridge for a couple of days.

Garden Cabbage

I've decided to grow cabbage. The Brooklyn garden is larger than I thought it was going to be. I am going to try varieties that are harvested in fall and winter. Here's what the beginning of the outdoor garden looks like so far.

Coleslaw and Corona

As a snack I enjoyed some slightly soupy storemade slaw from Waldbaum's with a Corona Light. It's advertised as storemade, not yet a recognized word.