I grew up on kohlrabi, on Friday nights while my father sang the songs that welcomed in the Shabbat, my mother was never comfortable if her hands’ weren’t active. Would sit behind him, humming along, while she diligently peeled kohlrabi with a paring knife and proceeded to cut it into paper-thin slices. She would then lightly salt the sliced kohlrabi from the salt cellar that was sitting waiting in anticipation to be used on the challah. The kohlrabi would marinate in its salt for a few minutes until kiddush, hand washing, and challah eating was done. And then as my mother served the soup she would offer my father the plate of thinly sliced kohlrabi and with each mouth full of soup he would dip the kohlrabi and take a bite.
To me kohlrabi isn’t just the Friday night scene it is all about my strong connections to my fathers Eastern European heritage, thus the introduction of caraway seeds to our quick pickled red onions.
Fresh kohlrabi is at its best 5-30 minutes after they are sliced, after that, they lose their assertive bite, so best to make this salad and serve it as close to mealtime as possible.
- 1 very small red onion, peeled and very thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon caraway seeds
- 3 medium (about 700g) Kohlrabi
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- Flaky sea salt
- Place the thinly sliced red onion in a small bowl along with the vinegar and caraway seeds, allow it to sit for 10 minutes, so the onion has quick pickling. Every few minutes give the onions a stir to ensure that all the onions are in contact with the vinegar.
- While the onions pickle, peel the tough skin off the kohlrabi, slice into ½ cm (¼ inch) slices. Stack up 5 or 6 slices like you would a deck of cards and then slice again into thin batons.
- Place the kohlrabi in a wide shallow serving dish, spoon the onion pickle on top, and sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Let the salad sit for 5 minutes before serving.
