Waldorf salad

The original New York hotel salad: celery, apple, walnut, and mayonnaise since 1893

Origin: New York, United States

From the journey of Celery.

The Waldorf salad was created in 1893 by Oscar Tschirky: the maître d'hôtel of the newly opened Waldorf Hotel on Fifth Avenue in New York, for the opening benefit dinner in aid of the St Mary's Hospital for Children. It originally contained only three ingredients: celery, apple, and mayonnaise. The walnuts were added later, in the 1890s or early 1900s, by which time the salad had already become famous. The Waldorf is one of the most historically significant dishes in American culinary history: it established the New York hotel restaurant as a creative force in American cooking; it introduced mayonnaise (still relatively unfamiliar to American diners) to a mass audience; and it demonstrated that a composed salad of raw, crunchy vegetables and fruit could be a refined, elegant dish rather than a rustic preparation. Oscar Tschirky went on to become the most influential maître d' in American hotel history, and the Waldorf salad, simple, crisp, cool, and creamy, became one of the first American restaurant dishes to achieve genuinely international fame. It is inseparable from celery's identity in American cooking: the salad's entire character depends on the crunch and faintly bitter, aromatic freshness of raw celery as a counterpoint to the sweet apple and rich mayonnaise.

Ingredients

Celery

4 stalks celery (inner stalks preferred), thinly sliced on the diagonal

Fruit

2 crisp, firm apples (such as Granny Smith or Cox), cored and cut into 1cm cubes

Nut

80 g walnuts, roughly broken and lightly toasted

Dressing

4 tbsp good mayonnaise
2 tbsp crème fraîche or sour cream
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
0.5 tsp caster sugar (optional, to balance tartness)

Seasoning

0.5 tsp fine salt
0.25 tsp freshly ground white pepper

To serve

Crisp lettuce leaves (cos or Little Gem), to serve

Method

In a bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, crème fraîche, lemon juice, sugar (if using), salt, and pepper to make the dressing. Taste: it should be creamy, lightly tart, and well-seasoned.
Toss the apple cubes immediately in the dressing as you cut them: the lemon in the dressing will prevent browning.
Add the celery and most of the walnuts to the bowl. Fold together gently to coat in the dressing without breaking the apple pieces.
Arrange lettuce leaves on a serving plate. Spoon the salad over the leaves.
Scatter the remaining walnuts over the top and serve immediately.

Notes

The Waldorf salad should be assembled just before serving: it does not hold well, as the apple continues to release moisture and the dressing loosens. For a more luxurious version (as served at the Waldorf-Astoria for much of the 20th century), add cubed poached chicken breast for a main-course salad. For a lighter version, replace all the mayonnaise with Greek yogurt. Grapes (seedless, halved) are sometimes added in the modern American version: a pleasant addition, though not original.

The Gastrographer

Name: Waldorf salad
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: United States
Ingredients: 4 stalks celery (inner stalks preferred), thinly sliced on the diagonal; 2 crisp, firm apples (such as Granny Smith or Cox), cored and cut into 1cm cubes; 80 g walnuts, roughly broken and lightly toasted; 4 tbsp good mayonnaise; 2 tbsp crème fraîche or sour cream; 1 tsp fresh lemon juice; 0.5 tsp caster sugar (optional, to balance tartness); 0.5 tsp fine salt; 0.25 tsp freshly ground white pepper; Crisp lettuce leaves (cos or Little Gem), to serve

Mapping Culinary History

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control