Top Chef's Ted Allen Fires Back on Waldorf Saladgate

On Wednesday night's episode of Top Chef, judge Ted Allen (pictured here with Padma Lakshmi) attributed the birthplace of the Waldorf Salad to somewhere in "middle America," an error that raised the eyebrows of foodies who know the salad's true inventor: Oscar Tschirky, who created it in the late 19th century while working at New York City's Waldorf Hotel (precursor to the Waldorf-Astoria).

Yesterday, Gothamist took the rare step of publishing one of the thousands of "open letters from the grave" we receive on a daily basis, from the ghost of Tschirky himself, excoriating Allen for denying him the culinary credit he so justly deserves. Today Allen responds, presumably after suffering through the first of many sleepless nights haunted by Tschriky's indignant ghost.

All righty, then: touché on your Waldorf Salad open letter—I enjoyed it. Point taken. Yes, the Waldorf Salad was invented by a chef at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel. In the 1800s. Which is approximately the last century that anybody with a creative or adventurous palate served it. (Which is not to say that it's not delicious—of course, it very much is.)

But since then, the venerable combo of mayo and apples—like so many dishes that once were innovative and now are clichés—became more the province of, well, the provinces. Such as that from whence I sprang so long ago: Ohio.

Which is why, if you Google "waldorf salad" right now, at this very moment, the second citation you will see is this one.

Defense rests.

Thanks, Ted Allen

On his new website, Allen tells readers how he learned how to cook (practice!) and that he's "all about pork" these days.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in Food on March 28, 2008 11:15 AM

Comments [rss]

Elise Thompson

I think when people turn up their noses at classic dishes involving mayonnaise, they are forgetting that homemade mayonnaise was a very different animal than what we buy in the market today.

Guess what the basis for aioli is?

sidenote

No need to hate on Ohio, Ted - just because it's not Chelsea or San Francisco doesn't mean it's devoid of value. You do realize Chicago is IN middle America, right?

Kingpin

"Which is approximately the last century that anybody with a creative or adventurous palate served it."

Yikes, that was really uncalled for. Stuck up food snob.

badtzmaru

No, if you google "waldorf salad" right now, you will find a picture of Ted Allen with egg on his face.

Rocknrope

@14, you mean "was"....

babyhitler

everytime I see padma I can't help thinking how she's going down on old man salman rushie's gray pubes.

Dave Hogarty

Props to Ted Allen for being a good sport and responding to his mayo-apple-walnut salad comment critics. People from the midwest are often the quickest and most over-reactive critics of their home states. Personally, I LOVE Waldorf salad, especially on a hot summer evening. I'm glad that its Gotham origins are being publicized.

And Kojak, yes indeed.

matty

co-op these nuts

Outter Burrougher

Also Matty, Stroganoff is Russian, not German.

The point of the matter is that he claimed it ORIGINATED in middle America. Whether or not middle Americans eat it now does not factor into the issue.

Jen Chung

In Fawlty Towers, a customer says there are grapes in Waldorf Salad.

matty

Actually considering goulash is hungarian perhaps middle america did coopt it. But so what! :D

matty

considering most of Middle America is of German descent i don't think they co-opted Stroganoff. And Chicago has more polish people than anywhere in the US so we got goulash covered too.

The reason Chicago was chosen for this season is that we have the most interesting and fast moving restaurant cultures in the country. This show does not even mention that fact it goes to the point of shitting on the city it's supposed to showcase.

boo-urns to this show.

spnder

Yeah, I bet you could type in Goulash, or Stroganoff and it would say the same thing. That does not mean it is of middle america. It simply means that middle america coops EVERYTHING. Sheesh. Accept you slipped up and move on...