From The Food Encyclopedia by Jacques Rolland and Carol Sherman
Made with shredded cabbage and various other vegetables, usually dressed with mayonnaise. It came to the American colonies with the Dutch and went through many transformations before arriving at the more or less standard recipe that we know today. In 1905, Mrs. John E. Cooke of New Castle, Pennsylvania, was rewarded with a $100 sewing machine and long-lasting gastronomic notoriety after winning the first prize for a dressing for coleslaw. The name comes from the Dutch kool sla, meaning "cabbage salad."
