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Cheese slaw is Roanoke's unsung claim to culinary fame.
Layla Khoury-Hanold
“Have you ever heard of cheese slaw?” has become my opening line when I meet new people.
For the uninitiated, I explain that cheese slaw is like pimento cheese’s long-lost cousin, a mixture of coarsely shredded Swiss cheese, chopped green onions, banana peppers and pickled jalapeño peppers, bound together with mayonnaise.
I first sampled cheese slaw at Fork in the Market in downtown Roanoke, where it added a creamy, tangy kick and cooling foil to a snappy, juicy hotdog. Cheese slaw is a versatile condiment, but also an entertaining-ready dip and bona fide sandwich spread. I’m also declaring it Roanoke’s unheralded claim to culinary fame.
If you Google cheese slaw, there’s a Wikipedia entry that suggests that cheese slaw is a salad or side dish made with cheddar, carrot, mayo and sometimes cabbage, that originated in Broken Hill in NSW Australia. But that’s not our cheese slaw.
For cheese slaw as we know it here in Roanoke, most hits lead back to Lib Wilhelm, a revered local caterer. Wilhelm served cheese slaw in a hollowed-out cabbage, fanning out the outer leaves to create a serving vessel for the dozens of parties and events she catered throughout her business’s decades-long run. Her dipping implement of choice were corn chip scoops.
Fork in the Market and Fork in the Alley owner Dave Trinkle says that cheese slaw has been on his restaurants’ menus from day one, where it can be added as a topping to burgers, hot dogs and salads, or ordered in custom hot dog creations like the Astro Dog, where the cheese slaw is scattered with sliced black olives.
Trinkle discovered cheese slaw at his parents’ cocktail parties in the 70’s and 80’s, though he recalls them using a caterer named Harrison Hale. It’s hard to determine who was the first to serve cheese slaw, but most people associate cheese slaw with Wilhelm.
Cheese slaw is so synonymous with Wilhelm that it’s even mentioned in her obituary in the Roanoke Times. And her recipe has been memorialized in the Junior League cookbook “Oh My Stars! Recipes That Shine” as “Lib Wilhelm’s Cheese Slaw.”
But a lesser known secret is that though the recipe calls for mayonnaise, Wilhelm actually used Miracle Whip.
“She loved Duke’s mayonnaise, but she did not put it in cheese slaw,” says Elaine “Lainy” Wilhelm, Ms. Wilhelm’s daughter-in-law, who has made the recipe so many times she could do so with her eyes closed. “I’ve never used Miracle Whip at all, but it really does make it real tart, it really does make it have a ‘you don’t know what’s in it’ [quality].”
The cookbook is where Paula Skulina, of the Virginia-based lifestyle blog Sweet Pea, discovered cheese slaw. In a blog post that includes Wilhelm’s recipe, she heralds cheese slaw as “a favorite summer dip.”
Indeed, there’s no better time to try cheese slaw than in summer. It’s a picnic-ready dip to pair with crackers and crudité and an excellent match for grilled fare like burgers and hot dogs, or even corn on the cob. I suspect it’d make an excellent upgrade to plain mayo in juicy tomato sandwiches.
For a truly transformative cheese slaw experience, John Cornthwait, a self-styled cheese slaw enthusiast and co-founder of marketing firm Firefli, recommends using it in a grilled cheese sandwich.
Cornthwait is so passionate about cheese slaw that he too opens conversations with “Have you ever had cheese slaw?” Whatever the response, it is an opportunity to either initiate someone or convert them to his version.
Like pimento cheese, cheese slaw lends itself to subtle tweaks (and undying devotion to one’s family recipe). Cornthwait subs in fresh jalapeños instead of pickled ones to lend a snappier texture and a pronounced spicy bite.
On the mayo front, he is loyal to Duke’s. Cornthwait also tweaked the recipe when he developed a version for his client, Homestead Creamery. Made with the dairy’s Pepper Jack cheese, it’s aptly named Homestead’s Kickin’ Cheese Slaw.
At Trinkle’s Fork restaurants, kitchen manager Westley Altice reveals that their take calls for provolone cheese, fresh jalapeños, plus the addition of red bell peppers, scallions, and a proprietary spice blend.
“Cheese slaw is just one of those quintessential Roanoke things. I always make it for people new to the area. It’s a rite of passage,” Cornthwait says. “For my company Christmas party, I make a double batch, so folks have plenty to take home with them.”
And like pimento cheese, cheese slaw has the power to inure an impassioned response.
One of his project managers, whose first taste of cheese slaw was Cornthwait’s recipe, says this: “Don’t need a cracker. I could eat cheese slaw alone with a spoon.”
Lib Wilhelm’s Cheese Slaw
Serves 16
- 1 pound Swiss cheese, coarsely shredded
- 1 bunch green onions with tops, chopped
- ½ cup chopped mild banana peppers
- ½ finely chopped jalapeño peppers
- Mayonnaise
- 1 head cabbage
Combine the cheese, green onions, banana peppers and jalapeño peppers in a bowl. Add enough mayonnaise to bind and mix well. Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Add additional mayonnaise if needed at serving time.
Hollow out the center of the cabbage and fold back the outer leaves. Spoon the cheese mixture into the center. Serve with corn chip scoops.
Lib Wilhelm’s Cheese Slaw recipe appears courtesy of “Oh My Stars! Recipes that Shine” by the Junior League of Roanoke Valley (JLRV). To purchase the cookbook or for information about joining JLRV now as a member, call 540-343-3663, email info@jlrv.org, or visit www.jlrv.org.
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