Adele's Cabbage Salad

So we have found out very early this year what our Christmas present is going to be: A little bundle of joy to turn our company of two into a crowd of three!

Over the last three months, I have also found out that I do not only have the character trades of my mother but I also get the same pregnancy symptoms. When I was 1,5 years old and my mother was pregnant with my brother, my response to "What is your mum doing?" was simply "Mummy, toilet, baaarrf!", which was pretty much all I did when I was not dozing on and off on the couch.

For someone addicted to her olive oil, garlic, feta, yoghurt and greens, it was really hard and surprising to find out that all I could stomach or stand the smell of was Vegemite toast and green apples. (Well, this is going to be an Australian baby as much as a Turkish one after all.)

So after being away from my kitchen for over eight weeks, the coast is now clear and my appetite is slowly coming back. But for someone who has been deprived of her vegetables for over three months, I am not craving the usual suspects such as chocolate or pickles but rather colorful salads, cold olive oil platters and lots and lots of fresh vegetables.

I have also been craving lots of maternal attention. I find myself longing to be with my mother, my real and honorary aunts and grandmothers more often than usual.

Adele was one those honorary grandmothers that has long said her farewells to this world but she is someone I always remember with a huge smile on my face and lots and lots of love in my heart.

She was a Jewish Turk who was born and raised in Turkey, married to a young man named Albert (although she always referred to him as Cheri) and followed him to America where they lived for the rest of their lives and raised their four lovely children and many grandchildren. But having their roots back in Turkey, they always came back over the years to live in Turkey sometimes in two-three year intervals.

After Albert retired, they spent most of their summers in Buyukada (the Big Island - the biggest of the nine Princes' Islands) in the Marmara Sea. Adele spent her afternoons playing cards with her friends or taking us around the island with the fayton (horse carriage), whenever we visited, telling us all sorts of entertaining stories of what is going on in the hotel and with its residents.

She was one of the most vivacious people I have ever known. She spoke Turkish, French, English fluently as well as some Italian and Spanish and I think Hebrew, all with an accent but always with style. A big smile always accompanied her lovely face. She was also very generous in giving both her love and her things away. She gave wonderful big hugs and kisses, and lots of "I love you"s, and if you accidentally said for example "Adele, what a lovely bracelet" she would take it off straight away and give it to you.

She wore all the bright colours of the rainbow and had deep red coloured nails that always matched her lipstick. She loved music and played the piano beautifully. I remember many afternoons where she would play me the beautiful songs of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin as I sang along.

She was also a great cook. Everything was "Oh this, it is nothing, so easy to make, I tell you." She is the reason why we always make the Jewish penicillin (Adele's chicken soup) at the first sign of a cold in our house, or why we love cabbages so much.

So when I started getting my appetite back, the first thing I can think of was Adele's beautiful cabbage salad. This salad is not only colourful and nutritious but also, in my opinion, goes with everything. The trick is to make the salad one or two days before you are going to eat it to allow the flavors to develop, marinate and soften the cabbage beautifully. It keeps in the fridge for 5-6 days (though it never lasts that long in our house.)

Adel'in Lahana Salatasi (Adele's Cabbage Salad)

Ingredients:

1/2 medium red cabbage
1/2 medium white cabbage
1 large brown onion
1/2 bunch dill
1/3 cup sunflower seeds or almonds


Dressing
1 teaspoon garlic powder*
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon




Here is how:

Cut both cabbages into bite size cubes. Wash and drain well.

Dice the onion and finely chop the dill.

Add the onions, dill and sunflower seeds/almonds to the cabbages.

Mix all the ingredients of the dressing and pour over the salad. Mix well, cover and place in the fridge to rest overnight.

* If you prefer to use fresh garlic that is fine too but try to use a small piece or half to begin with as the taste is stronger with fresh garlic and might be a bit overpowering. 


Afiyet Olsun!