Does coleslaw belong on the Thanksgiving table?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My initial reaction was, "no way!" unless it's like, a thanksgiving BBQ in Texas. But you guys have given me a lot to consider, I had no idea that sauerkraut was such a popular side dish at thanksgiving in the midwest and baltimore!

I am not sure I am ready to bring coleslaw to my T-giving table, but a relish and pickle tray might be a nice touch.

Relish tray is standard. I was responsible for the dish my entire childhood.

What goes on a good relish tray?

There are entire threads on this. Maybe someone can google fu for you. Do not bring this thread off-topic, please.

[Anonymous]

Our acids come from balsamic roasted brussels, lemon roasted carrots, spiced peaches, and if I am on top of it a relish tray with some pickles (and olives and celery). Cranberry also provides an acidic counterpart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What goes on a good relish tray?

Anonymous wrote:There are entire threads on this. Maybe someone can google fu for you. Do not bring this thread off-topic, please.

( https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/766169.page )

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gross. How Americans love foods like potato salad, macaroni salad, coleslaw etc. (I.e foods drenched in mayo) is beyond comprehension.

Yes. All americans just suck and are gross, amirite?

As one of multi millions of Americans who love the foods you mentioned, plus more, drenched in mayo and therefore we all suck and are gross, I'm not sure who you are but I would like to know so I know who I can judge as sucks and is gross because they are stupid enough to not like foods drenched in mayo. Please identify yourself so I don't have to hate the entire rest of the world.

[Anonymous]

There is no culinary culture that is fails to have some foods other people consider gross or unhealthy. It's pretty crass to throw stones about it, unless you are willing to put your own culinary heritage up for debate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gross. How Americans love foods like potato salad, macaroni salad, coleslaw etc. (I.e foods drenched in mayo) is beyond comprehension.

It's pretty uncultured to think that these require mayonnaise. Broaden your culinary scope.

My mother always served german potato salad to cut the heaviness and fat of the turkey and gravy. It has a vinegar base. No mayo.

A lot of German potato salad has bacon and/or bacon fat. Not exactly a low fat side dish.

Also, not mayonnaise.

Bacon grease vs mayonnaise? It's a toss up as to which is worse.

Expand those culinary horizons. I can't think of any German potato salad that has a comparable amount of bacon grease as typical to the amount of mayonnaise in American potato salad, but please feel free to post if you have it.

In fact, a lot of German potato salad recipes just add crumbled bacon as a garnish. But if there is some kind of prejudice or bigotry that underlies this peeve, facts aren't going to matter anyway. So, what's the culinary heritage you come from? Would you like to talk about fried, sugary sweets, or how white rice is one of the worst foods for spiking blood glucose levels, or what?

Honestly I'm just going to pass on all the potato salad. No thank you. Don't care if its loaded with mayo or bacon or hard boiled eggs. Hard pass on all of it.

Way to dodge the question, but sure.

-----

For anyone interested in German potato salad (not PP, obviously!), there are some classic styles:

Bavarian kartoffelsalat (bacon vinaigrette, about 3/4 of a piece of bacon per serving): https://thegoodheartedwoman.com/oktoberfest-hot-german-potato-salad-recipe/

Specifically Swabian kartoffelsalat (no bacon, but has German mustard): https://www.daringgourmet.com/restaurant-style-schwabischer-kartoffelsalat-swabian-potato-salad/

My objection is purely to potato salad whatever culture it hails from. I don't want a salad of potatoes. Calling it "light" b/c it has bacon grease and not oil and egg based mayonnaise is a distinction without a difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is no culinary culture that is fails to have some foods other people consider gross or unhealthy. It's pretty crass to throw stones about it, unless you are willing to put your own culinary heritage up for debate.

Many Americans are mutts made up of many heritages. There is no one culinary heritage to try to tear down. We all have our own preferences and most people prefer a little bit of this and a little bit of that, not 100% of anything.

[Anonymous]

Growing up we did always have coleslaw at Thanksgiving, even though I would say it seems more summer/BBQ type of dish generally. Nothing else on the table was particularly out of the ordinary, but always coleslaw (and a relish tray as well). We are not even remotely southern either so I can’t explain it other than - family tradition somehow!? So I think this is a fair question OP but also sometimes you just have to accept tradition for tradition’s sake.

For those railing about fatty or American foods - Thanksgiving is very much an American holiday. Holidays in general feature richer and more plentiful foods than an everyday meal in every culture.

Anecdotally despite the disgusting, fatty, American coleslaw on our table for a once a year holiday, none of us are obese. We tend to think the rest of the year counts a lot more than holidays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no culinary culture that is fails to have some foods other people consider gross or unhealthy. It's pretty crass to throw stones about it, unless you are willing to put your own culinary heritage up for debate.

Many Americans are mutts made up of many heritages. There is no one culinary heritage to try to tear down. We all have our own preferences and most people prefer a little bit of this and a little bit of that, not 100% of anything.

What cuisine did you grow up with?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no culinary culture that is fails to have some foods other people consider gross or unhealthy. It's pretty crass to throw stones about it, unless you are willing to put your own culinary heritage up for debate.

Many Americans are mutts made up of many heritages. There is no one culinary heritage to try to tear down. We all have our own preferences and most people prefer a little bit of this and a little bit of that, not 100% of anything.

What cuisine did you grow up with?

All of it. Even though I'm part German, I do not want the potato salad. I'm allowed to not like it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Many Americans are mutts made up of many heritages. There is no one culinary heritage to try to tear down. We all have our own preferences and most people prefer a little bit of this and a little bit of that, not 100% of anything.

What cuisine did you grow up with?

Sorry, quoted the entirely wrong post.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gross. How Americans love foods like potato salad, macaroni salad, coleslaw etc. (I.e foods drenched in mayo) is beyond comprehension.

It's pretty uncultured to think that these require mayonnaise. Broaden your culinary scope.

My mother always served german potato salad to cut the heaviness and fat of the turkey and gravy. It has a vinegar base. No mayo.

A lot of German potato salad has bacon and/or bacon fat. Not exactly a low fat side dish.

Also, not mayonnaise.

Bacon grease vs mayonnaise? It's a toss up as to which is worse.

Expand those culinary horizons. I can't think of any German potato salad that has a comparable amount of bacon grease as typical to the amount of mayonnaise in American potato salad, but please feel free to post if you have it.

In fact, a lot of German potato salad recipes just add crumbled bacon as a garnish. But if there is some kind of prejudice or bigotry that underlies this peeve, facts aren't going to matter anyway. So, what's the culinary heritage you come from? Would you like to talk about fried, sugary sweets, or how white rice is one of the worst foods for spiking blood glucose levels, or what?

Honestly I'm just going to pass on all the potato salad. No thank you. Don't care if its loaded with mayo or bacon or hard boiled eggs. Hard pass on all of it.

Way to dodge the question, but sure.

-----

For anyone interested in German potato salad (not PP, obviously!), there are some classic styles:

Bavarian kartoffelsalat (bacon vinaigrette, about 3/4 of a piece of bacon per serving): https://thegoodheartedwoman.com/oktoberfest-hot-german-potato-salad-recipe/

Specifically Swabian kartoffelsalat (no bacon, but has German mustard): https://www.daringgourmet.com/restaurant-style-schwabischer-kartoffelsalat-swabian-potato-salad/

My objection is purely to potato salad whatever culture it hails from. I don't want a salad of potatoes. Calling it "light" b/c it has bacon grease and not oil and egg based mayonnaise is a distinction without a difference.

What cuisine did you grow up with? Or are you accurate enough to just say there are foods from any cuisine, including yours, that other people find really gross? because that's a given, you know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no culinary culture that is fails to have some foods other people consider gross or unhealthy. It's pretty crass to throw stones about it, unless you are willing to put your own culinary heritage up for debate.

Many Americans are mutts made up of many heritages. There is no one culinary heritage to try to tear down. We all have our own preferences and most people prefer a little bit of this and a little bit of that, not 100% of anything.

What cuisine did you grow up with?

All of it. Even though I'm part German, I do not want the potato salad. I'm allowed to not like it.

Oh, sure. And keep the Leberknödelsuppe far from me. That's fine.

it's the bigoted slamming of countries as being collectively gross that bothers me, even more than liver dumplings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Many Americans are mutts made up of many heritages. There is no one culinary heritage to try to tear down. We all have our own preferences and most people prefer a little bit of this and a little bit of that, not 100% of anything.

What cuisine did you grow up with?

Sorry, quoted the entirely wrong post.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gross. How Americans love foods like potato salad, macaroni salad, coleslaw etc. (I.e foods drenched in mayo) is beyond comprehension.

It's pretty uncultured to think that these require mayonnaise. Broaden your culinary scope.

My mother always served german potato salad to cut the heaviness and fat of the turkey and gravy. It has a vinegar base. No mayo.

A lot of German potato salad has bacon and/or bacon fat. Not exactly a low fat side dish.

Also, not mayonnaise.

Bacon grease vs mayonnaise? It's a toss up as to which is worse.

Expand those culinary horizons. I can't think of any German potato salad that has a comparable amount of bacon grease as typical to the amount of mayonnaise in American potato salad, but please feel free to post if you have it.

In fact, a lot of German potato salad recipes just add crumbled bacon as a garnish. But if there is some kind of prejudice or bigotry that underlies this peeve, facts aren't going to matter anyway. So, what's the culinary heritage you come from? Would you like to talk about fried, sugary sweets, or how white rice is one of the worst foods for spiking blood glucose levels, or what?

Honestly I'm just going to pass on all the potato salad. No thank you. Don't care if its loaded with mayo or bacon or hard boiled eggs. Hard pass on all of it.

Way to dodge the question, but sure.

-----

For anyone interested in German potato salad (not PP, obviously!), there are some classic styles:

Bavarian kartoffelsalat (bacon vinaigrette, about 3/4 of a piece of bacon per serving): https://thegoodheartedwoman.com/oktoberfest-hot-german-potato-salad-recipe/

Specifically Swabian kartoffelsalat (no bacon, but has German mustard): https://www.daringgourmet.com/restaurant-style-schwabischer-kartoffelsalat-swabian-potato-salad/

My objection is purely to potato salad whatever culture it hails from. I don't want a salad of potatoes. Calling it "light" b/c it has bacon grease and not oil and egg based mayonnaise is a distinction without a difference.

What cuisine did you grow up with? Or are you accurate enough to just say there are foods from any cuisine, including yours, that other people find really gross? because that's a given, you know.

Are you dense? Of course all cultures have some questionable foods. We're allowed to have preferences. I take issue with your idea that greasy heavy potato salad somehow cuts the richness of a typically fatty Thanksgiving spread. It's more of the same. Regardless of whatever culture is calming it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Many Americans are mutts made up of many heritages. There is no one culinary heritage to try to tear down. We all have our own preferences and most people prefer a little bit of this and a little bit of that, not 100% of anything.

What cuisine did you grow up with?

Sorry, quoted the entirely wrong post.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gross. How Americans love foods like potato salad, macaroni salad, coleslaw etc. (I.e foods drenched in mayo) is beyond comprehension.

It's pretty uncultured to think that these require mayonnaise. Broaden your culinary scope.

My mother always served german potato salad to cut the heaviness and fat of the turkey and gravy. It has a vinegar base. No mayo.

A lot of German potato salad has bacon and/or bacon fat. Not exactly a low fat side dish.

Also, not mayonnaise.

Bacon grease vs mayonnaise? It's a toss up as to which is worse.

Expand those culinary horizons. I can't think of any German potato salad that has a comparable amount of bacon grease as typical to the amount of mayonnaise in American potato salad, but please feel free to post if you have it.

In fact, a lot of German potato salad recipes just add crumbled bacon as a garnish. But if there is some kind of prejudice or bigotry that underlies this peeve, facts aren't going to matter anyway. So, what's the culinary heritage you come from? Would you like to talk about fried, sugary sweets, or how white rice is one of the worst foods for spiking blood glucose levels, or what?

Honestly I'm just going to pass on all the potato salad. No thank you. Don't care if its loaded with mayo or bacon or hard boiled eggs. Hard pass on all of it.

Way to dodge the question, but sure.

-----

For anyone interested in German potato salad (not PP, obviously!), there are some classic styles:

Bavarian kartoffelsalat (bacon vinaigrette, about 3/4 of a piece of bacon per serving): https://thegoodheartedwoman.com/oktoberfest-hot-german-potato-salad-recipe/

Specifically Swabian kartoffelsalat (no bacon, but has German mustard): https://www.daringgourmet.com/restaurant-style-schwabischer-kartoffelsalat-swabian-potato-salad/

My objection is purely to potato salad whatever culture it hails from. I don't want a salad of potatoes. Calling it "light" b/c it has bacon grease and not oil and egg based mayonnaise is a distinction without a difference.

What cuisine did you grow up with? Or are you accurate enough to just say there are foods from any cuisine, including yours, that other people find really gross? because that's a given, you know.

Are you dense? Of course all cultures have some questionable foods. We're allowed to have preferences. I take issue with your idea that greasy heavy potato salad somehow cuts the richness of a typically fatty Thanksgiving spread. It's more of the same. Regardless of whatever culture is calming it.

Nobody claimed that. You are arguing with some misinterpretation in your head. However, somebody did claim this, whether you or another PP, and that was what that subthread was about:

Anonymous wrote:Gross. How Americans love foods like potato salad, macaroni salad, coleslaw etc. (I.e foods drenched in mayo) is beyond comprehension.

That's a pretty gross sentiment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Many Americans are mutts made up of many heritages. There is no one culinary heritage to try to tear down. We all have our own preferences and most people prefer a little bit of this and a little bit of that, not 100% of anything.

What cuisine did you grow up with?

Sorry, quoted the entirely wrong post.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gross. How Americans love foods like potato salad, macaroni salad, coleslaw etc. (I.e foods drenched in mayo) is beyond comprehension.

It's pretty uncultured to think that these require mayonnaise. Broaden your culinary scope.

My mother always served german potato salad to cut the heaviness and fat of the turkey and gravy. It has a vinegar base. No mayo.

A lot of German potato salad has bacon and/or bacon fat. Not exactly a low fat side dish.

Also, not mayonnaise.

Bacon grease vs mayonnaise? It's a toss up as to which is worse.

Expand those culinary horizons. I can't think of any German potato salad that has a comparable amount of bacon grease as typical to the amount of mayonnaise in American potato salad, but please feel free to post if you have it.

In fact, a lot of German potato salad recipes just add crumbled bacon as a garnish. But if there is some kind of prejudice or bigotry that underlies this peeve, facts aren't going to matter anyway. So, what's the culinary heritage you come from? Would you like to talk about fried, sugary sweets, or how white rice is one of the worst foods for spiking blood glucose levels, or what?

Honestly I'm just going to pass on all the potato salad. No thank you. Don't care if its loaded with mayo or bacon or hard boiled eggs. Hard pass on all of it.

Way to dodge the question, but sure.

-----

For anyone interested in German potato salad (not PP, obviously!), there are some classic styles:

Bavarian kartoffelsalat (bacon vinaigrette, about 3/4 of a piece of bacon per serving): https://thegoodheartedwoman.com/oktoberfest-hot-german-potato-salad-recipe/

Specifically Swabian kartoffelsalat (no bacon, but has German mustard): https://www.daringgourmet.com/restaurant-style-schwabischer-kartoffelsalat-swabian-potato-salad/

My objection is purely to potato salad whatever culture it hails from. I don't want a salad of potatoes. Calling it "light" b/c it has bacon grease and not oil and egg based mayonnaise is a distinction without a difference.

What cuisine did you grow up with? Or are you accurate enough to just say there are foods from any cuisine, including yours, that other people find really gross? because that's a given, you know.

Are you dense? Of course all cultures have some questionable foods. We're allowed to have preferences. I take issue with your idea that greasy heavy potato salad somehow cuts the richness of a typically fatty Thanksgiving spread. It's more of the same. Regardless of whatever culture is calming it.

Nobody claimed that. You are arguing with some misinterpretation in your head. However, somebody did claim this, whether you or another PP, and that was what that subthread was about:

Anonymous wrote:Gross. How Americans love foods like potato salad, macaroni salad, coleslaw etc. (I.e foods drenched in mayo) is beyond comprehension.

That's a pretty gross sentiment.

I'm responding specifically to this: "My mother always served german potato salad to cut the heaviness and fat of the turkey and gravy. It has a vinegar base. No mayo."

Potatoes are cheap, filling food. They are by definition heavy. This is just not logical. It's like saying mashed potatoes or macaroni and cheese cut the heaviness of the dinner. That it may be "German" makes no difference here.