Even when you’ve by no means been to a Thanksgiving dinner within the South, you in all probability have an concept of what you’d see on the desk: piping scorching cornbread, the cheesiest macaroni ever, and mashed potatoes swimming in butter. And also you’d be proper, by the best way, however you’d be lacking the star of the present. You see, whereas some households would possibly serve a “actual” Thanksgiving salad with greens, crisp pears, and candied pecans, Thanksgiving within the deep South is just not full with out Watergate salad (or ambrosia salad, or Jell-O salad… there are ranges to this sh*t). It’s a throwback dish that, in contrast to the bizarre gelatin molds with scorching canine inside, is a meals from yesteryear that truly tastes divine, and I feel it’s poised for a comeback.
I grew up seeing inexperienced Jell-O salad on the desk at my grandma’s home annually — she was from West Virginia, and we spent most of my childhood in Georgia and Florida, the place sure, Jell-O salads are nonetheless a staple at church and vacation potlucks. Hers was a mix of lime gelatin, crushed pineapple, and cream cheese, poured right into a baking dish and topped with mini marshmallows to gel up. My mother says Mimi first discovered her recipe in one thing like Lady’s Day or Good Housekeeping, which she would web page by whereas ready round at my great-grandmother’s magnificence store. The dish wobbles a little bit humorous while you set it down, however it’s fairly tasty when you’re prepared to tuck into it.
After my mother and father break up, my dad met a lady he’d spend the subsequent 5 or so years with, and we had been welcomed into her household’s — all Florida natives — Thanksgiving that first vacation season. Three large folding tables lined the partitions of Memaw’s eating room, laden with every kind of steaming sides and heaps of meat, and one curious bowl of inexperienced fluff topped with cherries. Not the Jell-O salad I used to be used to, however it positive appeared like a relative. I turned to my dad in line behind me and requested what it could possibly be, and we each needed to ask round a bit earlier than studying its identify: Watergate salad. One chew and I used to be hooked — it was pineapple-y like Mimi’s Jell-O salad, however with sufficient crunch to fulfill due to the chopped nuts hidden inside, and the pistachio whipped topping was so in contrast to all the things else on the menu that day. I appeared ahead to it yearly after that.
Nobody is completely positive how Watergate salad received its identify. Rumors that it was created by a chef on the notorious Watergate Resort have by no means been confirmed, and moreover, pineapple and gelatin combine recipes had been round since the turn of the century, NPR reviews. Everybody’s greatest guess is that this explicit dish sprung up proper after the primary immediate pistachio pudding combine hit retailer cabinets in 1976. By advantage of this salad being standard concurrently a pistachio cake recipe that used the identical pudding combine — and was referred to as Watergate cake (additionally for causes unknown) — they started to share a reputation. Personally, I just like the hunch that maybe the name was a nod to each dishes’ vivid inexperienced hues masking up all of the nuts and different substances beneath, a la the Watergate scandal itself.
So, what is Watergate salad? It’s the type of factor you would possibly flip your nostril up at when you’ve by no means seen it earlier than, and based mostly on appears alone, I wouldn’t blame you. It’s basically a bowl of marshmallows and chopped pecans — a scrumptious begin — which is then coated in a pistachio and crushed pineapple whipped cream concoction that you just must strive. The recipe by no means adjustments, as a result of the entire level is that it’s quick, easy, and always the same (although some arguably have a bit extra fluff to cowl the dish’s contents than others). So, whether or not you utilize Food.com’s, Southern Living’s, or the most-legit-seeming Farmer’s Almanac one, you’ll get roughly the identical dish.
That is how I realized to make it from Memaw’s household, a technique which required almost zero measuring, which is why it’s really easy to recollect. You’ll want:
- 1 field immediate pistachio pudding combine (not sugar-free, as a result of Thanksgiving isn’t the day for fussing about it)
- 20 oz. can crushed pineapple
- 1 cup miniature marshmallows, give or take
- Roughly 1/2 cup chopped pecans, however measure together with your coronary heart based mostly on how a lot texture you need
- 1 8 oz. container of Cool Whip
- Maraschino cherries
- Dump your pineapple and its juice right into a bowl and stir within the pudding combine ‘til it’s all mixed.
- Add the marshmallows and nuts and stir.
- Fold in till your whipped topping till it’s good and inexperienced, and all the things within the bowl is coated in fluffy pistachio amazingness.
- Chill it for a pair hours earlier than go time so it units up a bit, and high it with maraschino cherries and a few further nuts earlier than serving, when you really feel so inclined. (I like to recommend a number of cherries, personally. All people desires a cherry on high.)
Watergate salad is actually so stupidly good for the way little effort it takes to make. When you want one thing for everybody to argue about over dinner (aside from, you recognize, the state of the world), inform them that some Southerners imagine Watergate salad to be a aspect fairly than a dessert, and I promise you that debate will burn by at the least 10 minutes of time.
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