Type Dessert | Place of origin United States of America | |
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Alternative names Pistachio delight, Shut The Gate Salad, Green Goop, Green Fluff, Green Stuff Region or state Midwestern United States Main ingredients Pistachio pudding, canned pineapple, Cool Whip, marshmallows Similar Pistachio pudding, Jello salad, Ambrosia, Dessert salad, Marshmallow creme | ||
Watergate salad lynn s recipes
Watergate salad, also referred to as "Green Goddess", Pistachio Delight, or Shut The Gate Salad or colloquially as Green Goop, Green Fluff or Green Stuff, is a side dish salad or dessert salad made from pistachio pudding, canned pineapple, whipped topping, and marshmallows. It is very quick to prepare: the ingredients are combined and it can be chilled, if desired.
Contents
The canned fruit used is usually pineapple, but can be a fruit cocktail and/or mandarin oranges. Thanks to many home cooks, there are many slight variations with additional ingredients. Watergate salad is similar to ambrosia salad. It is a popular dish in the Upper Midwest and other areas of the US where potlucks are popular.
Watergate salad
Etymology
The origin of the name “Watergate salad” is obscure: Kraft says "There are several urban myths regarding the name change, but we can’t substantiate any of them." 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." Kraft, however, didn't 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." Neither the article nor editor has been tracked down, however.
The Denver Post, in the Empire Magazine of June 27, 1976, published a recipe for Watergate Salad. Rumor has it that Watergate salad was a concoction thought up by a sous chef at the Watergate Hotel, and it was then served at brunch on most weekends. Watergate Salad took off in popularity during and after the presidential scandal which shares the same name. However, the Denver Post article does not verify this rumor, noting like most sources that the origins of the name are obscure.
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): "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." Both cake and salad were part of a trend for satirically-named recipes such as Nixon's Perfectly Clear Consomme and Liddy's Clam-Up Chowder.
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". Similar "fruit salad" and "pineapple salad" recipes had been published in the 1910s, and "Golden Gate Salad" was served in some US hotels.