Jessie Taylor
Candle salad is a vintage fruit salad that was popular in America from the 1920s to the 1960s. It is composed of lettuce, pineapple, banana, cherry, and either mayonnaise, cottage cheese, or whipped cream. The ingredients are assembled to resemble a lit candle. The dish was considered an easy way to get children to eat fruit due to its unusual appearance and simple construction. It was also included in several cookbooks for children.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Ingredients | Lettuce, pineapple, banana, cherry, mayonnaise or cottage cheese, whipped cream |
| Appearance | Resembles a lit candle |
| Popularity | 1920s to 1960s |
| Purpose | Easy way to get children to eat fruit, simple introduction to cooking |
| Recipes | Published in A Child's First Cook Book by Alma S. Lach (1950), Betty Crocker's Cook Book for Boys and Girls (1957), The Candle Salad Story (2003) |
| Cultural Significance | Holiday recipe, featured in socialite menus, promoted the banana industry |
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What You'll Learn
- Candle salad was a popular vintage fruit salad in America from the 1920s to the 1960s
- It was made of lettuce, pineapple, banana, cherry, and mayonnaise or cottage cheese
- The salad was often used to get children to eat fruit because of its unusual appearance
- It was considered a child-friendly introduction to cooking because of its simple construction
- The recipe was published in the 1950 edition of 'A Child's First Cook Book' by Alma S. Lach
Candle salad was a popular vintage fruit salad in America from the 1920s to the 1960s
The salad was first mentioned in print in 1916 and was initially served as a fancy side salad. By 1928, it had become a popular holiday dish, with the Philadelphia Tribune describing it as a recipe that "seems to live forever". It remained popular through the 1950s, featuring in several cookbooks aimed at children, such as the 1950 edition of 'A Child's First Cook Book' by Alma S. Lach, and the 1957 edition of the 'Betty Crocker's Cook Book for Boys and Girls'. It was also published as a recipe card by the Tested Recipes Institute of New York in 1958.
The candle salad's popularity has been attributed to several factors. One theory suggests that it was created to promote the banana industry. Another suggests that it was a result of the Hawaiian Pineapple Company's aggressive marketing campaigns in the 1920s, which aimed to create demand for pineapples among American consumers. The salad's unusual appearance also made it a fun way to encourage children to eat fruit and a simple introduction to cooking for young chefs.
Despite its popularity, the candle salad has not stood the test of time. In recent years, it has been ridiculed for its phallic appearance, with comedian Amy Sedaris preparing the dish on Bravo TV's 'Watch What Happens: Live' in 2010, and Ellen DeGeneres joking about it on her show in 2014.
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It was made of lettuce, pineapple, banana, cherry, and mayonnaise or cottage cheese
Candle salad is a vintage fruit salad that was popular in America from the 1920s through to the 1960s. It is composed of lettuce, pineapple, banana, cherry, and either mayonnaise or cottage cheese. The ingredients are assembled to resemble a lit candle.
The salad is made by arranging a few leaves of lettuce on a plate or decorative napkin to form the base. One or more pineapple rings are stacked on top of the lettuce, providing a niche for inserting a whole or half peeled banana. The banana can be topped with a choice of cream, mayonnaise, cottage cheese, or whipped cream and a cherry. The cherry is often placed on top of the banana using a toothpick to secure it.
The candle salad was likely invented in the 1920s when bananas were widely available, and pineapples were becoming popular. Its unusual, "festive" appearance and easy preparation made it a natural fit for holidays like Christmas and Halloween, as well as children's birthday parties and as a way to encourage children to eat fruit. It was also considered a child-friendly introduction to cooking due to its simple construction.
The recipe has been published in several cookbooks for children, including the 1950 edition of "A Child's First Cook Book" by Alma S. Lach and the 1957 edition of the "Betty Crocker's Cook Book for Boys and Girls". It has also been featured in various articles and booklets, such as "The Candle Salad Story" by Carolyn Andrew Lynch in 2003. A version of this salad also appeared in the Mormon children's magazine "The Friend" in 2008, which included alfalfa sprouts and strawberry yogurt drizzled over the banana to resemble dripping candle wax.
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The salad was often used to get children to eat fruit because of its unusual appearance
Candle salad is a vintage fruit salad that was popular in America from the 1920s through to the 1960s. The unusual appearance of this salad has often been remarked upon, and it has been the subject of ridicule in more recent times. However, its unusual appearance also made it a fun way to get children to eat fruit.
The salad is typically composed of lettuce, pineapple, banana, cherry, and either mayonnaise or, according to some recipes, cottage cheese. Whipped cream may also be used. The ingredients are assembled to resemble a lit candle. The candle salad is assembled by first arranging a few leaves of lettuce on a plate or decorative napkin to form the salad's base. One or more pineapple rings are stacked on top of the lettuce, providing a niche for inserting one whole (or more often half) peeled banana. For garnish, the banana can be topped with a choice of cream and a cherry.
The recipe is simple, and children didn't have to worry about using a knife or burning their hands on the stove. It was also considered a child-friendly introduction to cooking because of its simple construction. The recipe for candle salad was published in the 1950 edition of 'A Child's First Cook Book' by Alma S. Lach, one of the first cookbooks written for children. It also appeared in the 1957 edition of the 'Betty Crocker's Cook Book for Boys and Girls' with the description, "It's better than a real candle because you can eat it."
The popularity of candle salad may be due in part to the increasing availability of pineapple and banana in the 1920s. James Drummond Dole, the "Pineapple King," purchased the entire island of Lanai in 1922 to grow pineapples and had to create demand for the fruit from scratch. They flooded print magazines with glossy ads for canned pineapple products, along with multiple public recipe contests. At the same time, bananas were widely available.
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It was considered a child-friendly introduction to cooking because of its simple construction
Candle salad is a vintage fruit salad that was popular in America from the 1920s through to the 1960s. It is composed of lettuce, pineapple, banana, cherry, and either mayonnaise or, according to some recipes, cottage cheese. Whipped cream may also be used. The ingredients are assembled to resemble a lit candle.
The candle salad is simple to make. First, arrange a few leaves of lettuce on a plate or decorative napkin to form the salad's base. Stack one or more pineapple rings on top of the lettuce, providing a niche for inserting one whole or half peeled banana. For garnish, the banana can be topped with a choice of cream and a cherry. In some recipes, mayonnaise or flavoured whipped cream is dribbled "on top of and down one side of the banana to represent melted wax".
Because of its simple construction, candle salad was considered a child-friendly introduction to cooking. The recipe was published in several cookbooks aimed at children, including the 1950 edition of 'A Child's First Cook Book' by Alma S. Lach, and the 1957 edition of the 'Betty Crocker's Cook Book for Boys and Girls'. The latter included the description: "It's better than a real candle because you can eat it." The recipe was also published as a recipe card by the Tested Recipes Institute of New York in 1958.
The candle salad's festive appearance and easy preparation made it a natural fit for holidays like Christmas and Halloween, as well as children's birthday parties. A version of the salad appeared in the Mormon children's magazine 'The Friend' in 2008, which included a bed of alfalfa sprouts and strawberry yoghurt drizzled over the top of the banana to look like dripping candle wax.
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The recipe was published in the 1950 edition of 'A Child's First Cook Book' by Alma S. Lach
Candle salad is a vintage fruit salad that was popular in America from the 1920s through to the 1960s. The recipe was published in the 1950 edition of "A Child's First Cook Book" by Alma S. Lach. This was one of the first cookbooks written specifically for children. The recipe also appeared in the 1957 edition of "Betty Crocker's Cook Book for Boys and Girls", with the description, "It's better than a real candle because you can eat it".
The recipe for candle salad is simple: arrange a few leaves of lettuce on a plate or decorative napkin to form the base. Stack one or more pineapple rings on top of the lettuce, providing a niche for inserting one whole (or more often half) peeled banana. For garnish, the banana can be topped with a choice of cream, mayonnaise, or cottage cheese, and a cherry. The ingredients are assembled to resemble a lit candle, with the cherry acting as the flame.
The salad's unusual appearance made it popular as a way to get children interested in cooking and eating fruit. It was also a festive dish, appearing on holiday tables at Christmas and Halloween, as well as at children's birthday parties. In 2008, a version of the salad was published in the Mormon children's magazine "The Friend", which included a bed of alfalfa sprouts and strawberry yoghurt drizzled over the banana to look like dripping candle wax.
Alma S. Lach (1914-2013) was an author and educator who published several cookbooks during her lifetime, including "A Child's First Cook Book", "The Campbell Kids: at Home", "Let's Cook", "Cooking à la Cordon Bleu", and Hows and Whys of French Cooking. She was a contemporary of Julia Child but was overshadowed by her landmark book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". Lach's books are known for their straightforward approach and clear explanations of French cooking techniques and ingredients.
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Frequently asked questions
Candle salad is a vintage fruit salad that was popular in America from the 1920s to the 1960s. It is composed of lettuce, pineapple, banana, cherry, and either mayonnaise, cottage cheese, or whipped cream. The ingredients are assembled to resemble a lit candle.
The candle salad gets its name from its resemblance to a lit candle. The salad typically features a banana thrust vertically into a stack of pineapple rings on a bed of lettuce leaves, with a maraschino cherry on top.
To make a candle salad, arrange a few leaves of lettuce on a plate or decorative napkin to form the base. Stack one or more pineapple rings on top of the lettuce and insert a whole or half peeled banana. For garnish, top the banana with a cherry and your choice of cream or mayonnaise.
There are several theories about why the candle salad was created. One suggestion is that it was a simple recipe to get children to eat fruit and introduce them to cooking. Another theory is that it was created to promote the banana industry. Additionally, the popularity of candle salad may have been influenced by the rise of canned pineapple products in the 1920s, with companies like the Hawaiian Pineapple Company (later the Dole Food Company) heavily advertising their products and promoting recipes that included pineapple.
