Alternative names | Pistachio Delight, Shut The Gate Salad, Green Goop, Green Goddess, Green Fluff, Green Stuff, Mean Green, Shamrock Salad |
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Type | Dessert |
Place of origin | United States |
Main ingredients | Pistachio pudding, canned pineapple, Cool Whip, marshmallows |
Watergate salad, also referred to as Pistachio Delight or Shut the Gate salad, is a side dish salad or dessert salad made from pistachio pudding, canned pineapple, whipped topping, crushed pecans, and marshmallows. [1] [2] [3] It is very quick and simple to prepare: the ingredients are combined and then often chilled. [4] [5] It is a popular dish in areas of the U.S. where potlucks are common.
The origin of the name "Watergate salad" is obscure. The recipe was published by General Foods (since merged into what is now Kraft Heinz) and called for two General Foods products: Jell-O instant pistachio pudding and Cool Whip whipped topping, a whipped-cream substitute. According to Kraft, "There are several urban myths regarding the name change, but we can't substantiate any of them." [6] Several competing explanations exist.
Kraft Corporate Affairs said: "We developed the recipe for Pistachio Pineapple Delight. It was in 1975, the same year that pistachio pudding mix came out." [7] Kraft, however, did not refer to it as Watergate Salad until consumers started requesting the recipe for it under the name. "According to Kraft Kitchens, when the recipe for Pistachio Pineapple Delight was sent out, an unnamed Chicago food editor renamed it Watergate Salad to promote interest in the recipe when she printed it in her column." [7] Neither the article nor editor has been tracked down, however.
Syndicated household advice columnists Anne Adams and Nan Nash-Cummings, in their "Anne & Nan" column of October 9, 1997, reported that name came from the similar "Watergate Cake" (which shares most of the same ingredients): [8] "The recipes came out during the Watergate scandal. The cake has a 'cover-up' icing and is full of nuts. The salad is also full of nuts." [9] Both cake and salad were part of a trend for satirically named recipes such as Nixon's Perfectly Clear Consommé and Liddy's Clam-Up Chowder. [10]
In 1922 Helen Keller published a similar recipe, calling for canned diced pineapple, nuts, marshmallows, whipped cream and other ingredients. "I ate it first in California, so I call it Golden Gate Salad". [11] Similar "fruit salad" and "pineapple salad" recipes had been published in the 1910s, and "Golden Gate Salad" was served in some American hotels.
Watergate salad is also referred to as Pistachio Delight [12] or Shut the Gate salad, [13] or colloquially as Green Goop, Green Goddess salad, Green Fluff, [14] or Green Stuff. [15]
Jell-O is an American brand offering a variety of powdered gelatin dessert, pudding, and no-bake cream pie mixes. The original gelatin dessert is the signature of the brand. "Jell-O" is a registered trademark of Kraft Heinz, and is based in Chicago, Illinois.
Rice pudding is a dish made from rice mixed with water or milk and commonly other ingredients such as sweeteners, spices, flavourings and sometimes eggs.
Fruit salad is a dish consisting of various kinds of fruit, sometimes served in a liquid, either their juices or a syrup. In different forms, fruit salad can be served as an appetizer or a side as a salad. A fruit salad is sometimes known as a fruit cocktail, or fruit cup.
Carrot cake is cake that contains carrots mixed into the batter.
Iraqi cuisine is a Middle Eastern cuisine that has its origins in the ancient Near East culture of the fertile crescent. Tablets found in ancient ruins in Iraq show recipes prepared in the temples during religious festivals—the first cookbooks in the world. Ancient Iraq's cultural sophistication extended to the culinary arts.
Jello salad is an American salad made with flavored gelatin, fruit, and sometimes grated carrots or other vegetables. Other ingredients may include cottage cheese, cream cheese, marshmallows, nuts, or pretzels. Jello salads were popular in the early 20th century and are now considered retro.
Ambrosia is an American variety of fruit salad originating in the Southern United States. Most ambrosia recipes contain canned or fresh pineapple, canned mandarin orange slices or fresh orange sections, miniature marshmallows, and coconut. Other ingredients might include various fruits and nuts: maraschino cherries, bananas, strawberries, peeled grapes, or crushed pecans. Ambrosia can also include mayonnaise or dairy ingredients: whipped cream, sour cream, cream cheese, pudding, yogurt, or cottage cheese.
Pistachio pudding is a green pudding made from pistachio nuts and occasionally contains small chunks of almonds. Jell-O also sells boxed pistachio pudding mix. Boxed pistachio pudding was developed by Kraft Foods in 1975. Pistachio pudding quickly became a staple ingredient in Watergate salad. This pudding is also an ingredient in certain types of cakes, pies, muffins, pastries, and pistachio salad.
An icebox cake is a dairy-based dessert made with cream, fruits, nuts, and wafers and set in the refrigerator. One particularly well-known version used to be printed on the back of boxes of thin and dark Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers.
Bermudian cuisine blends British and Portuguese cuisine with preparations of local seafood species, particularly wahoo and rockfish. Traditional dishes include codfish and potatoes served either with an add-on of hard-boiled egg and butter or olive oil sauce with a banana or in the Portuguese style with tomato-onion sauce, peas and rice. Hoppin' John, pawpaw casserole and fish chowder are also specialties of Bermuda. As most ingredients used in Bermuda's cuisine are imported, local dishes are offered with a global blend, with fish as the major ingredient, in any food eaten at any time.
A banana split is an American ice cream-based dessert consisting of a peeled banana cut in half lengthwise, and served with ice-cream and sauce between the two pieces. There are many variations, but the classic banana split is made with three scoops of ice cream. A sauce or sauces are drizzled onto the ice cream, which is topped with whipped cream and maraschino cherries. Crushed nuts are optional.
Snickers salad is a dessert salad consisting of a mix of Snickers bars, Granny Smith apples, Cool Whip or whipped topping, marshmallows, and often pudding served in a bowl. It is a potluck staple in the Midwestern United States. It is sometimes included in church cookbooks.
Strawberry delight is a dessert salad found in the United States, especially in the South and more rural areas of Minnesota. Strawberry delight is made from milk, whipped topping, cream cheese, strawberries and strawberry gelatin over a graham cracker crust. Variations include ingredients such as ice cream, canned fruit, marshmallows, lemon juice, and walnuts. The crust ingredients are mixed and pressed in a pan with the creamy ingredients mixed and added on top. Boiling water is added to the strawberry gelatin mix, strawberries are added to it, and then that mixture is poured over the creamy mixture in the pan, all of which is then refrigerated to set.
Frogeye salad is a type of sweet pasta salad made with small, round acini di pepe pasta, whipped topping, and egg yolks. Fruit, such as mandarin oranges and pineapples, are often mixed in, and it is sometimes topped with marshmallows, all of which contribute to the sweetness while adding variety. The humorous name refers to the pasta looking like frog's eyes.
Pie in American cuisine evolved over centuries from savory game pies. When sugar became more widely available women began making simple sweet fillings with a handful of basic ingredients. By the 1920s and 1930s there was growing consensus that cookbooks needed to be updated for the modern electric kitchen. New appliances, recipes and convenience food ingredients changed the way Americans made iconic dessert pies like key lime pie, coconut cream pie and banana cream pie.
A dump cake is an American dessert similar to a cobbler but with a cake-like topping. It is so named because it is prepared by "dumping" ingredients into a cake pan without mixing.
Watergate cake is a pistachio cake popular in the U.S. which shares its name with the Watergate scandal of the 1970s, although the name's origin is not clear. The cake pre-dates Watergate salad, a dessert made with similar ingredients including pistachio pudding.