The grapes are flowing in from the vines, veg gardens are overly pleased with themselves at being productive, and I’ve just picked the first few test apples of the year off the trees. Still a bit small and tart but not horribly so. Give them another three weeks and they’ll be perfect. That didn’t stop me from making a classic salad this afternoon which, to the uninitiated, will sound like an oddball combination. After one bite you’ll see why it can still be served in its original form after a hundred years. Sweet, bitter, tart, creamy… all delightfully balanced on the edge of your taste buds.
I can’t even begin to crack the iceberg that is the humour packed into the quintessential Fawlty Towers episode “Waldorf Salad” wherein Basil attempts (unsuccessfully) to placate the obnoxious American customer replete with foreign dinner and drink demands so I’ll just let you watch it for yourselves by searching the ever-changing intertywebs for a copy. The story goes that in another little hotel across the Atlantic the maître d’, Oscar Tschirky, created the salad for guests in the late 1890’s. When I myself was a guest there more than a century later I couldn’t resist ordering the namesake fruit salad from room service and tasting the genuine article at three am. And that was after an all-night corned beef sandwich ‘research’ binge around the city but it was worth every bite. They later found me in the hallways complaining about bottled orange juice and mentioning the war far too much (watch the episode to understand).
The only way you can screw up a Waldorf salad is with substandard fruit or mayonnaise. Or perhaps by thinking your clever addition of poached chicken, tangerine slices, boiled eggs, dried cranberries, wrestling otters, lump hammers or any other madness will improve the finish. Not so. This is a case of ‘not broken – don’t fix’ and since you already know how to make great homemade mayo, you’re halfway there. Make sure that the grapes are firm, that the apples are tart and crisp, that the walnuts are lightly toasted, and that you’ve scrubbed your celery well. Job done. No potatoes or grailfrit required, Mister Fawlty.
Waldorf Salad
I know it seems like you could make this ahead of time and you probably could but it’s never quite as nice as when freshly assembled to me. Preferably under an apple tree. While the fresh greens are primarily for garnish, wise choices there make for a sequel to the Waldorf salad sitting on top of them (hint: try butter/bibb lettuce or baby spinach mixed with a hint of rocket).
85 grams (~ 2/3 cup) walnuts, very coarsely chopped
250 grams (~ 2 cups) cored apple, peel optional, diced or chopped to preference
75 grams (~ 1/2 cup) celery with leaves when possible, washed well and diced fine
275 grams (~ 1 1/2 cups) sweet seedless grapes, any variety, halved
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Freshly ground black peppercorn and fine sea salt, to taste
4 tablespoons homemade mayonnaise
2 tablespoons cream (18% or more)
Fresh greens for serving
Yield: Salad for Two-ish, recipe can be safely halved or doubled.
In a dry skillet toast the walnuts over medium-low heat just until fragrant, about three minutes, then immediately remove from the pan to cool. Burnt walnuts happen fast and mean a complete restart so watch carefully.
Toss the prepared apples, celery, & grapes with the lemon juice, peppercorn and salt in a large bowl. Stir the mayonnaise and cream together then add to the fruit along with the cooled walnuts tossing to coat well. Serve atop greens on a chilled plate. Think of those poor people staying at the Ritz.
– msh v2.0
