We partnered with California Walnutsto trace the history of New York's most storied salad. Add your versionto their timeline by submitting an original recipe to their contesthere. Read onto find out more.
Today:The Waldorf salad gets a makeover—again, and again, and again.
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When Chef David Garcelon arrived at the Waldorf Astoria Hotelclose to four years ago, he was surprised to find thatnot one of the hotel’s several restaurants was servingthe exact same recipe for its most populardish: the Waldorf salad. Though it was beingordered 20,000 times a year, it wasn'tbeing prepared the same way across different outlets in its original home.Once you dig into the history of one of the last century's most ubiquitous dishes, this oversight doesn't seem so odd: Everybody has their own opinion on how it should be made.
“Things go in and out of vogue,” Matt Sartwell, Managing Partner of Kitchen Arts and Letters, saysmatter-of-factly as we poreover several turn-of-the-century cookbooks at his bookshop. Some areworn with age, some are better preserved, and almost all havethat mustiness that pleasantly lingers withyou after leaving a museum or library.
We weren't talking about recentfood trends.We werestudyingthe Waldorf salad recipe (and the ways it has changed).
It’s widely known thatOscar Tschirky—the storied, original maître d'hôtel of theWaldorf Astoria Hotel—was the creator of the notorioussalad.The original recipe can be found in hiscookbook,The Cookbookby Oscar of the Waldorf, with only three things: apples, celery, and mayonnaise (no walnuts to be found). The most intriguing part of the history of the dish that he’s most known for—and a testament to the recording of recipes—is how many iterations it's been through in its lifetime. In each cookbook Matt and I looked through, not one recipe for the salad had the same ingredients.
Left: The Cookbook by Oscar of the Waldorf; Right: Oscar with chef and a Camp Firegirl
Over time, walnutsseem to have become integral to the mix, first showing up ina recipe, Chef Garcelon told me, in a cookbook by Escoffier, and then more widely foundin 1928’sThe Rector Cook Book. Matt mused that the additioncould have been as off-handed as someone’s father owning a walnut farm, or a chef who thought the salad lacked balance and savoriness. The ingredient list continued to grow as years went on, possibly due to nothing but someone’s personal interpretation.
Original Waldorf salad recipe
The versionin George Rector'sHome at the Rangefrom 1939 feels thoroughly modern with bits of bitter greens and a dusting of paprika.American Foodby Evan Jones has arecipe that includes mayonnaise made with walnut oil. Matt told mehis mom always added raisins, and a Food52 staffer said her parents even used whipped cream instead of mayonnaise. Gelatin and cider vinegar come into the mix inThe American Century Cookbook's recipe, and there’s also been talk around the office of additions like marshmallows and hard-boiled eggs.
Left: Portrait of Oscar Tschirky; Right: Waldorf Astoria Park Avenue entrance in the 1940s
As noted by Evan Jones inAmerican Food,the salad was bornfor a 1500-person “society supper” to celebrate the opening of the Waldorfin thespring of1893. It came to life in the heyday of cold salads, when midday meals touched the edge of the afternoon. Sweet salads were all the rage, even when it seemed like a fad in the early 20th century. (It’s mentioned inAmerican FoodthatSheila Hibben, cookbook writer and journalist at theNew Yorkerfor the first part of the 1900s, thought the Waldorf saladwas a “mixed blessing.”)
“Society's accepted notions of mealtimes and components of meals have changed drastically over time,” Matt reminded me as we pawed through recipes, each reinterpreted for a new decade.
According to Chef Garcelon, Oscar was a celebrity in his own right. Before the time of highly visible chefs, hesaid, Oscar was the one who spoke to guests—he was the person who was educating people about food and wine at that time. Oscar was born in Switzerland and worked his way up during the rise of the restaurant, from unknown busboy to maître d' ofDelmonico’sand then, subsequently, the Waldorf.
Stepping into a strong culinary tradition like the Waldorf’s, Chef Garcelon synthesized all of the hotel's different preparations for the salad and decided to reimagine it in his own way: Today, he uses julienned green and red apples, celery root brunoise, truffle oil, candied walnuts, microgreens, and an emulsified vinaigrette. To him, this brings the Waldorf salad up to speed for 2015. And despite its age and divisive reputation, it’s still the most ordered dish on the menu. Talk about staying power.
Oscar and his team celebrating the end of prohibition
Serves4
1 cup diced apples
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2cup chopped walnuts
1/2cup mayonnaise
5 leaves of escarole or chicory, chopped and stems removed
A few pinches of paprika
See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.
Last photo by Alpha Smoot; all archival photography courtesy Waldorf Astoria New York and Towers of the Waldorf Astoria New York.
We partnered with California Walnutsto trace the history of New York's most storied salad.Submityour version to their contestherefor a chance to be featured on the menu of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel's Sunday Brunch menu.
