"Julie Bove" wrote:
> Daughter has loved coleslaw since she was a baby. �Her favorite version is
> one that we get at a Mexican restaurant that appears to be just cabbage and
> carrots with a vinegar dressing. �It's possible there are onions but that
> they are blending in, much as they did with the recipe I just tried.
>
> We have food allergies so we can't have dairy or eggs. �Because of the
> allergies, this is the only type of coleslaw we can eat. �I also have
> diabetes so prefer not to use sugar or at least not a lot.
>
> I tried one recipe at Christmas a few years ago and it was inedible because
> it was so bitter. �My mom surmised that my celery seeds were rancid. �I was
> not so sure. �Have tried a few recipes since and they were just okay.
> Nobody had seconds or ate the leftovers.
>
> So tonight I tried this recipe:
>
> http://recipes.epicurean.com/recipe/...cole-slaw.html
>
> I didn't have the green pepper so I left that out. �Didn't have the celery
> seed so left that out too but used 1/2 celery salt in place of the sea salt
> I would have used. �I subbed in Splenda for the sugar. �And since it didn't
> specify the type of vinegar I used white wine. �Perhaps I should have used
> rice vinegar? �I've seen other similar recipes that called for rice vinegar.
>
> At any rate, my finished dish looked yummy and it smelled yummy. �But it
> didn't taste so yummy. �Once again, it was very bitter. �It didn't taste so
> bad as the first bite went in, but after chewing it, it left a nasty bitter
> aftertaste. �In fact I can still taste it now, even though I had a bite of
> the tomato salad I made which fortunately did turn out well.
>
> Could it be the Splenda? �I don't normally find that Splenda has a bitter
> aftertaste. �Would it work better to use 1/2 Splenda and 1/2 sugar?
>
> Could it be the cabbage? �That was my thought. �I didn't taste the cabbage
> this time but I did the last time it happened. �I had a piece from the
> center of the cabbage and that was bitter so I didn't use the center.

The center of a cabbage is the sweetest most tender portion (it's the
youngest portion), I eat that part plain, it never gets into the
slaw... if the center is bitter then the further you go to the
exterior the more bitter it will taste. I always taste cabbage before
proceding, why waste my time, effort, and other ingredients if the
cabbage tastes weird, then it goes outside for the critters. I can't
imagine anything else in your recipe made your slaw so bitter as to be
inedible, it had to be bad cabbage... storage cabbage is often bitter
and/or strong flavored. Next time taste.