G’Day Food Lovers! People say that necessity is the mother of invention. In my case, it was the mother of trying out a bizarre little recipe called Broken Hill CheeseSlaw. Let me show you the finished dish before we get to the hows and whys!
Let’s start at the very beginning. One of my favourite sandwiches is chicken schnitzel and coleslaw. Or, as we in Australia call it, a chicken schnitty. Now, we don’t eat schnitty’s all that often because the fussiest eater in the world does not like crumbed food. 🙄
However, we did have schnitzel…well to be utterly honest it was Donna Hay’s Chicken Katsu the other night ( and lo and behold he actually enjoyed it). And there was a little bit of chicken leftover…actually no. I specifically katsu’ed an extra bit of chicken so I could have a schnitty and slaw sanger the next day!
Now, you may notice a distinct lack of sandwich in the above photo.
Here’s why
This is Frankie. We were dogsitting Frankie on Katsu night and Frankie was not happy about being dogsat. She howled the whole of the first night she was with us. And most of the second (which was katsu night). The only way I could get Frankie to stop howling was to pet her and cuddle her.
So, on day three which was the day I wanted my schnitty sandwich, I realised I had no bread in the house. And I wasn’t going out to buy any. My neighbours were already sleep deprived, as was I. from the nighttime howling. I felt that if there was also daytime howling interrupting people’s work we would become public enemies #1. It was already lunchtime and I was hungry! There was no time to wait for a delivery.
“I’ll make a bowl.” I thought. “Then I won’t need bread”. About then I realised I also had no cabbage for the slaw. Enter Broken Hill Cheeseslaw!
Broken Hill CheeseSlaw
Broken Hill CheeseSlaw (more than a food, it’s a way of life) is a mix of grated carrots, mayo and cheese which has been on the menu in Broken Hill (aka The Silver City) since the 1930’s. How or why the good people of Broken Hill decided to ditch the cabbage and embrace the cheese in their slaw is lost to time. Although there is a viable theory here. However, it is still very much still a thing and even got its own dictionary entry in 2019!
Broken Hill CheeseSlaw – Tasting Notes
The cheeseslaw was somewhat surprisingly not terrible. Many times if you buy a schnitty and coleslaw sandwich you get the option of some cheese to be melted on top. And you know, one of my mottoes in life is if you ever get the option of cheese melted on top of anything, take it! I did feel like the cheeseslaw missed a little bit of bang – some spring onion, some pickled jalapeno etc would have cut through some of the fattiness of the cheese and mayo combo which the carrot did not do. I added some pickled onions I had in the fridge and some edamame from the freezer to my bowl to bring in that bite and also some greenery.
As a whole, my schnitty / katsu cheeseslaw bowl was totally delish! And something I will intentionally make again!!!
Broken Hill CheeseSlaw – The Golden Grater
So friends, there is an annual contest in Broken Hill for the best cheeseslaw – both traditional and contemporary. I’m already thinking – a Philly Cheesesteak / Cheeseslaw combo might be awesome!
If you have an idea for cheeseslaw, (and here are some things that others have tried), let me know and I will make the 820 km drive to represent you and me (and Frankie) in the competition for this year’s Golden Grater!
The Recipe – Broken Hill CheeseSlaw
Have a great week!
