How to eat: coleslaw

This month, we dives into a European salad that went global after the Americans added mayo. But why is cheese a no-no? And should you be punished for popping in pineapple?

It won't prevent cancer, rejuvenate ageing skin or arrest global warming but coleslaw is nonetheless a miracle food". Crunchy and wet, creamy and fresh, sweet and savoury, the subject of this month's How to eat - the series identifying how best to enjoy Britain's favourite foods - delivers rare complexity in every mouthful. It is also one of the few salads that works with hot dishes, the mayonnaise greasing the wheels of that gastronomic interaction.

Little wonder that Dutch koolsla, originally a way of dressing raw cabbage to make it palatable, not only survived its 18th-century journey to the US but with adjustments (swapping vinaigrette for mayonnaise), was re-exported to global acclaim.