One of America’s Favorites – Waldorf Salad

August 17, 2020 at 6:02 AM | Posted in One of America's Favorites | Leave a comment
Tags: Apples, Celery, Chicken, Cooking, Food, Fruit, Grapes, Lettuce, Mayonnaise, One of America's Favorites, recipes, Waldorf Salad, Walnuts

A modern Waldorf salad with green grapes and whole walnuts, served in a glass bowl

A Waldorf salad is a fruit and nut salad generally made of fresh celery, apples, walnuts, and grapes, dressed in mayonnaise, and traditionally served on a bed of lettuce as an appetizer or a light meal. The apples, celery, and grapes can all be green, which harmonizes the color palette of the dish.

 

Waldorf salad is named for the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City, where it was first created for a charity ball given in honor of the St. Mary’s Hospital for Children on March 14, 1896. The Waldorf-Astoria’s maître d’hôtel, Oscar Tschirky, developed or inspired many of the hotel’s signature dishes and is widely credited with creating the salad recipe. In 1896, the salad appeared in The Cook Book by “Oscar of the Waldorf”.

The original recipe was just apples, celery, and mayonnaise. It did not contain nuts, but they had been added by the time the recipe appeared in The Rector Cook Book in 1928.

 

Other ingredients such as chicken, turkey, and dried fruit (e.g. dates or raisins) are sometimes added. Updated versions of the salad sometimes change the dressing to a seasoned mayonnaise (see also: dressings based on mayonnaise) or a yogurt dressing. Modern Waldorf salad may also include the zest of oranges and/or lemons.

A variation known as an “emerald salad” replaces the celery with cauliflower.