Not Your Average Slaw

When our teams are going through the food line on trips, I like to pour the juice so I can hear how everyone is doing, learn names, and help them make sure they get the most out of their Haitian meal.  They usually aren't too timid about taking the rice, meet, and lettuce salad, but the slaw needs to come with a little bit of a warning.  As people pile the colorful slaw onto their plates, I think to myself, "I hope they don't take a giant bite of that..." I chuckle when I think of when I didn't know what was in it and took a big bite.  It was quite surprising, you see, because it is not your average slaw.

This salad is called "pikliz" and, although it looks like coleslaw, it has some major differences that people should probably know about.  Pikliz is often times very spicy!  Sometimes spicy enough to make your nose run, your face turn red, and your eyes water.  It really does need to come with a warning, which is what I do when I'm pouring the juice.  "Hey, guys, that's a little spicy.  You may want to mix it in with your rice or put it on your fried plantain to tame it down a little bit."  I also like to share my favorite way to eat it:  you put your meat on a fried plantain, add pikliz, and top it off with another fried plantain--yummy!

So, what makes this pikliz so spicy?  If you would like to try this at home to see, here's how it's done.

For an "eat today" pikliz, you will need:

-a package of coleslaw mix from your local super market (cabbage and carrot typically)

-lime juice

-vinegar

-a small onion

-a green bell pepper

-salt

-one or two scotch bonnet peppers

Here's what you do:

-Thinly slice--not dice--the onion, bell pepper, and scotch bonnet peppers

-Put the coleslaw mix, onion, and bell pepper in a large bowl

-Add scotch bonnet peppers--depending on how spicy you want this, you may not want to add all of them

-In a separate bowl, mix lime juice (1-2 TBSP), vinegar (1-2 TBSP), and salt (1 tsp or to taste).  NOTE:  you may need more or less of this depending on how much you are making

-Pour the lime juice/vinegar/salt mixture over the top of the veggie mix

-Toss/mix together well

-Enjoy

WARNING:  this may be hot!