Tasked with making a dish to take to my daughter’s housewarming party I opted for my version of Ottolenghi’s Sweet Winter Slaw. I only made a couple of adaptations and they were to substitute Cavolo Nero for Savoy Cabbage and to include hazelnuts as well as macadamias, when I discovered someone (me?!) had already eaten half the bag. The celery in the photo is a red herring (!) – I gathered the ingredients from memory and then kept wondering at what stage I should add the celery.
I felt slightly guilty when buying mango and papaya as they don’t fit in with my aspirations to eat local, seasonal food. But hey – it was for a party and they did make a welcome sweet addition and festive touch that I don’t think a wrinkled old apple would have done. And it did result in a brief encounter with a sweet elderly woman who advised me on how to pick the best fruits and told me how she’d weaned her son on papaya fifty years ago when she lived in Africa.
And was it a success – well I guess so because I sent it on ahead and by the time I arrived at the party I was looking at an empty bowl;(
My Plenty Food Project 