Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Where's Waldorf? My Second Favorite Way to Eat Apples

My favorite way is fresh off the neighbor's tree when they're not home. After that, this is my favorite raw apple dish - the ancient and excellent, Waldorf salad. It's a shame how some of the greatest American recipes fall out of fashion, and get lost in foamy waves of new, cutting edge cuisine.

The ingeniously delicious Waldorf salad is a great example. Why isn’t this very healthy, and addictive, salad on every menu in the country? It's a masterpiece of perfectly paired tastes and textures. Sweet, crisp, juicy apples, aromatic celery, exploding grapes, and crunchy walnuts - all brought together with a light and creamy lemon dressing.


This tasty bit of culinary Americana was invented by Oscar Tschirky, the maître d'hôtel of the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City. It first appeared in 1896, much to the delight of the early "ladies who lunch." Old Oscar is also credited with creating another classic - eggs Benedict. Do yourself a favor and whip up a batch of Waldorf soon. This is a fairly basic version (which I believe is best), but dried fruit is also a common addition. Enjoy!
Click here for ingredients and transcript

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

i'm going to have this with parma ham!!! and substitute the grapes with honey dew melon!

What do you think>?

Chef John said...

i think i like that idea

Anonymous said...

Great idea! I needed something to go with my baked ham and scalloped potatoes for Easter. Thanks!

Chef John said...

perfect for Easter. enjoy!

Anonymous said...

Well my family sure doesn't forget it. My brother would have a screaming hissy fit if we didn't make this salad for every major holiday. It's actually the only way I do really enjoy apples, which I find otherwise pretty boring. We don't add celery to ours (we are not traditional in that sense) but it actually looks good. I think I'd like the extra crunch. Thanks for posting!

Chef John said...

oh, the celery is a must! it's actually the slight bitterness of the celery that makes the salad taste sweeter.

Anonymous said...

Not having an ingredient list is a bit annoying.. I've been making a version of this for many years. I got tired of the mayo so use an oil and vinegar with a bit of Dijon mustard. I substitute fennel for the celery though I sometimes use half of each. I don't use grapes but do add greens and sometimes dried cranberries and always toasted walnuts or pecans.

Chef John said...

There's a large bold link to the ingredients and complete transcripts below the clip. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

LOL i just got it! 'where's waldorf' comes from 'where's wolly'!!!

Chef John said...

I believe it's "where's Waldo?" Who the hell is wolly?

Anonymous said...

"...fall out of fashion, and get lost in foamy waves of new, cutting edge cuisine."

This gets my vote for one of the most profound food comment of the decade-very well said.

Jeff

Chef John said...

Thanks! Feel free to forward it to your local newspaper food editor! ;)

Anonymous said...

lol is it 'waldo'?! 'where's wally' is that dude you have to find in those books!

Time With Boona said...

This look i can't even think of any thing to say to say but very good.so this is just apples and lettuce basicily

Chef John said...

you may want to watch the video again...I threw a few other things in there. ;)

jojo said...

thank you for allll ur GREAT RECIPES!!! i truly find you so smart, so funny, and very helpful!!! thanks a bunch, chef!

angela@spinachtiger said...

I haven't thought of waldorf salad in years. I love retro food, like beef wellington and parfaits.

Chris said...

I don't know if your question has yet been answered. Just in case; there it is: 49°18′0″N 8°39′0″E :)
or even there: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walldorf_(Baden)

Anonymous said...

How many people would this serve? How would I figure the serving size? A half an apple portion per person maybe?