Answer: the raspberry vinegar…. and maybe the raisins. You can buy raspberry vinegar everywhere, but the homemade variety is the best – go here for the recipe.  To give the salad a slightly middle-eastern flavour substitute some of the mayonnaise for thick Greek yoghurt and add a couple of tablespoons of tahini.  It goes particularly well in chicken wraps. If you like you can also add in some apple – a Granny Smith will give a tart, crisp flavour, and so will a Calville Blanc d’Hivers, try changing the cabbage for fennel.

A very good thing to serve with coleslaw is a baked potato and ham. And another good thing is pan-fried mackerel. Coat mackerel fillets with a little flour seasoned with cumin, corriander, chilli flakes and a little sugar and fry either in butter or rapeseed oil.

Recipe for a coleslaw that is better than most

Ingredients

• 400g/14 oz grated carrots or carrot batons
• 400g/14 oz Savoy cabbage
• 4 fat cloves of garlic
• smoked salt and white pepper
• 6 stalks of celery
• 200g raisins
• 3 tbsp raspberry vinegar
• 150g pecans
• 240g/8 oz/1 cup mayonnaise

Method

1. Soak the raisins in the raspberry vinegar for several hours – or as long as you can.
2. Chop the carrots into slightly smaller pieces if they are batons.
3. Take of tired outer leaves and shred the cabbage finely.
4. Wash, de-string, and chop the celery into small dice.
5. Crush the peeled garlic with some smoked salt.
6. Roughly chop the pecans and dry fry them.
7. Mix all together.