Cinderella’s slipper was made of purple cabbage, and she faced an impossible choice

Every Cinderella story has a magical slipper. Beautiful and full of meaning. My book Pepelina, The Slavic Cinderella also has one made of green cabbage. I spoke of the green cabbage slipper in my earlier blog post, if you missed it.

But not often do you encounter a fairytale retelling where the beauty of Cinderella’s slipper hides something. In my novel, there is a second slipper that Pepelina wears, one made of red or purple cabbage. She wears it, it seems, to her second ball. I do not wish to reveal much, but the reason why I chose to include the purple cabbage slipper brings me back to my own love for shredded cabbage salad.

As a child growing up in Croatia, I loved eating fresh cabbage salad. My mother always served it with pork, and for good reason. Shredded cabbage is a gut-healthy food, full of fiber, which helps prevent constipation. Still, everything in moderation because too much fiber brings its own problems!

This childhood memory inspired a very beautiful part in Pepelina, The Slavic Cinderella. The main heroine loves fresh cabbage salad but refuses to eat it cooked. And there is a very good reason for that. The purple cabbage reveals Pepelina’s identity.

She is more than the humble girl and a storyteller who wears green cabbage slippers to the Kolyada ball. The purple slipper holds the secret to her true bloodline, a secret carrying much darkness and ancestral pain with it.

When Pepelina is given a purple cabbage slipper to wear, she must make a difficult choice. Will she wear the purple cabbage slipper and accept her royal/noble bloodline? Or will she forever treasure her green slipper, and remain a humble folk storyteller?

You could say, dear reader, that the true battle in the novel is that of two cabbages: green and purple. Both are beautiful slippers, but Pepelina can only wear one and must refuse the other.

HOW TO MAKE PURPLE CABBAGE SALAD FOR YOUR ROYAL FEAST

Sometimes you just need to feel like noble and royal blood runs through your veins. Why not try this simple folk recipe that was once beloved amongst the royals and nobles in the European courts? Here is how:

What you need:

• 1 fresh purple cabbage head
• 5 tablespoons of oil (olive or vegetable)
• 4 tablespoons of vinegar (apple cider or white)
• 2 teaspoons of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of salt (but can add more to have it ‘saltier’)
• Season with pepper until you like the flavor

What to do:

1. Shred the cabbage just before you will eat it (this is my mother’s secret tip)
2. Place shredded cabbage in the salad bowl
3. Add oil and vinegar
4. Season with salt, pepper and sugar
5. Mix well, and serve immediately

What to expect: Reduced swelling, and less pain. Perhaps, if you’re lucky, maybe even a visit from your own Fairy Godmother!

AN EXCERPT

From the pages of Pepelina

‘She remembered her father and his greasy hands as he shredded roasted pork and served cabbage on her plate during winter celebrations. Soon enough the memory came alive in her mind fully. It was as if she were back in the dining room with roasted pork pieces laid out on the silver platters and a bowl of shredded green and purple cabbage next to it.

‘The good cabbage. The fresh cabbage,’ said her father.

‘No, it’s the yummy healthy worms,’ replied Pepelina.

Her father laughed as he spooned cabbage on her plate along a big piece of roasted pork. Pepelina looked at her father and devoured the cabbage before she got to the pork. She ate so fast it seemed as if she were a fast carriage racing against her father who sat next to her eating slowly and savoring every bite.’