The German Style Waldorf salad is a great salad served as side dish or appetizer. The combination of apples and celery is just nice. It is a famous recipe that originated in the USA from the famous Hotel Waldorf, and it has found many fans in Germany as well.
The History
The salad was created the first time for a charity ball given in honor of the St. Mary’s Hospital for Children on March 13, 1896. The Waldorf-Astoria has a very famous maître d’hôtel, his name was Oscar Tschirky, and it was him who developed or inspired many of the hotel’s signature dishes and so he did with the salad recipe. There’s a book called The Cook Book by “Oscar of the Waldorf” that mentions this salad in 1896.
The celery root is an interesting vegetable and is being used a lot in the German kitchen. We add it to broths and you can make salads and use it to make veggie burgers. It has an interesting nutty taste. The celery root can be combined with apples, walnuts, or lettuce which is a variation of the famous Waldorf Salad.
(serves 4-5)
1 medium sized celery root (also called called celeriac)
1 large apple or 2 smaller ones, red and not too sweet
Herbs: 1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley, 1 tbsp fresh chopped dill
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup home made or organic high quality mayonnaise – Find THOMY Mayonnaise Here –
100 ml white wine vinegar
50 g walnuts (chopped)
salt, black pepper to taste
– Peel apples, remove core, cut pieces in 1/4 inch (or thinner) slices or cubes.
– Peel the celery root, grate it with a grater or boil it for 3 minutes in salt water, then drain and cut very fine.
– Mix mayonnaise, sour cream apple vinegar, dill, parsley, salt and black pepper to taste (in a large salad bowl).
– Combine grated celery with dressing, mix gently – let sit for 20-30 minutes.
– Add apples and walnuts. Mix well.
– Decorate with 1-2 whole walnuts and chopped parsley.
Tip
Drip some lemon juice over the apples. This prevents them from becoming brown.