A Southern matriarch once quipped, “Me, I couldn’t function socially without chicken salad. It rules at the ladies’ clubs.”
That below-the-Mason-Dixon-Line hostess could have been my grandmother, who always brought out her neat as a pin crystal platters of dainty tea sandwiches when the ladies stopped by for a book club meeting. Crusts trimmed away, they were filled with homemade chicken salad, tuna salad, egg salad and pimento cheese. Grammy was a puzzle of sorts, her frou-frou side a genteel one reminiscent of “Gone With the Wind” social graces, the other side one of steel that would have held off the Yankees with a shotgun, saying, “Over my dead body!” She served part-time as a deputy sheriff (the small-town sheriff needed a woman back then just in case law enforcement incarcerated a female inmate) and as a school teacher, still finding the time to entertain her many friends.
Without fail, a simple, yet elegant chicken salad appeared when the ladies visited.
Chicken salad has been around a very long time.
By 1860, chicken salad was “in” among New York City’s upper crust. That year, at a ball honoring Bertie, his royal highness and the eldest son and heir of Queen Victoria, chicken salad or mayonnaises des volailles, was served on the buffet.
Tea Room Chicken Salad
- 3 lbs. of chicken breasts, simmered in seasoned water for 15 minutes
- ½ cup chopped celery
- ½ cup chopped onion, such as Vidalia or Peruvian Sweet
- 2 minced green onions
- 1-2 Tablespoons minced parsley
- ½ cup mayonnaise, mixed with 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
- 2 Tablespoons sour cream
- 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon honey
- 1 cup sliced seedless grapes
- Extra parsley and grapes for garnish
In a large bowl, mix the chicken, celery, onion, green onions and parsley. In a smaller bowl, blend the mayonnaise, lemon juice, sour cream, mustard, honey and vinegar. Mix well, add salt and pepper to taste. Spoon the mayonnaise sauce over the chicken, blend, then add grapes. Lightly blend. Serve in a nest of Boston lettuce leaves, garnish with parsley and surround with melon slices, berries and seedless grapes.
About the Writer:
Rebecca Jackson is a veteran newspaper person/journalist based in Bedford County, VA. A native of California and an M.A. graduate of Arizona State University, she has a passion for pets (animals), good food/cooking, music, wine, horticulture, photography and travel.
