The History of The Waldorf Salad

The Waldorf Salad was created by Oscar Tschirky, the original maître d'hôtel of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. The original recipe was published in his cookbook (The Cookbook by Oscar of the Waldorf) and called for just 3 ingredients: apples, celery, and mayonnaise. (Although walnuts have become deeply linked with the salad, the original version did not include any nuts at all.) Oscar Tschirky created the salad for a 1,500 person “society supper” held in celebration of the opening of the Waldorf in spring 1893. At the time, cold salads were all the rage, as were sweet salads, and the original Waldorf Salad reflects those contemporary tastes. Walnuts first showed up in the famous salad’s recipe in a cookbook by Escoffier, then again in 1928’s The Rector Cook Book, which was notably distributed on a much wider scale. The ingredient list for the Waldorf Salad continued to evolve over the years as different people put their own spin on it. George Rector's 1939 cookbook, Home at the Range, called for bitter greens and paprika, while gelatin and cider vinegar were introduced later in The American Century Cookbook. There are also anecdotes of versions that included raisins, hard-boiled eggs, and more. When Chef Garcelon became the Director of Culinary at the Waldorf Astoria in the early 2010s, he discovered that the hotel's eateries weren’t all serving the dish the same way and decided to streamline and reimagine the iconic salad; his version calls for julienned green and red apples, celery root brunoise, truffle oil, candied walnuts, microgreens, and an emulsified vinaigrette. Today, the Waldorf Salad is the most-ordered dish at the hotel and remains one of the most iconic salads in the world.