Original Waldorf Salad

The Waldorf-Astoria was originally
two hotels (the Waldorf and the Astoria)
built side by side on Fifth Avenue. The
taller portion in the photo is the Astoria.
In 1929, the hotels were demolished to make room
for the Empire State Building. The modern-day
hotel (on Park Avenue at 49th Street) was
completed in 1931.

Who put walnuts in the Waldorf Salad??

In a book written in 1896 by Oscar Tschirky, the maître d’ at the Waldorf-Astoria, the salad is a simple affair: apples, celery, mayo. That’s it.

Though simple, the salad eventually became enough of a signature dish that in the 1930s, Cole Porter immortalized it in the lyrics of “You’re the Top”:

You’re the top! You’re a Waldorf salad.
You’re the top! You’re a Berlin ballad [...and so on]

But when/why did walnuts get into the act? And who, oh who, put grapes in?

Did the kitchen at the Waldorf get bored and start riffing on their own salad? My guess is “Not on Oscar’s watch.” I think it's because cookbook authors feel the need to put their own stamp on things. It’s like the culinary game of telephone. One person adds walnuts. The next person has to add grapes. The apple/celery/mayo core remains, but people always feel the need to GORP things.

By 1905, in a cookbook from the L.A. Times, the walnuts had appeared. In the very first Joy of Cooking (1931), Irma Rombauer dutifully included the walnuts, but in later editions of her book the grapes had reared their ugly little heads. And in a perfect game of telephone, the modern-day salad as served at the Waldorf Astoria (2014) has candied walnuts and grapes.

Original Waldorf Salad

Serves 4 to 6
Oscar's instructions for this salad were short and sweet, but they did include this admonition: "Be very careful not to let any seeds of the apples be mixed with it."

In the Waldorf kitchens, this would certainly have been made with the house-made mayonnaise; so in the name of authenticity, you could use it (Oscar's recipe follows and is verbatim). But for convenience, my version uses store-bought, with a bit of Dijon mustard and cayenne to make it more like Oscar's version.

1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch of cayenne pepper
2 apples, peeled and cut into 1/3-inch cubes
2 cups celery cubes (1/3 inch)

1. In a small bowl, stir together the mayo, mustard, salt, and cayenne. In a salad bowl, toss the apples and celery with the mayo mixture. Taste and add more salt or cayenne if you want.
2. This was probably served on a bed of lettuce, but there was no reference in the book as to how it was plated.

Waldorf with Scallions: I can actually understand why people were tempted to gussy up this salad, but I feel that it's in keeping with the original to only add a simple crunchy-onion thing instead of walnuts and grapes. So, mince 4 scallions (including some of the dark green tops, too) and toss with the apple and celery.

[from The Cook Book by "Oscar" of the Waldorf (1896)]

Sauce Mayonnaise.
Place in an earthen bowl a couple of fresh egg-yolks and half a teaspoonful of ground English mustard, half a pinch of salt, half a saltspoonful of red pepper, and stir well for about three minutes without stopping, then pour in, drop at a time, one and a half cupfuls of the best olive oil, and should it become too thick, add a little at a time, some good vinegar, stirring constantly.