I’m still learning things about this country. First it was raisins in potato salad (what in tarnation?!?!?) and yesterday I encountered pistachio fluff with pineapple.

New York doesn’t have these things afaik.

25 comments

  3. The south has something called a “buttermilk salad”. (It sounds horrifying, but it was my favorite when I was a small child. It wouldn’t have been if I understood the ingredients because I would have been too afraid to try it.)

    It’s made with packaged jello, buttermilk, whipped cream, and usually nuts and cherries. But it really does taste nice. Even my kid (with sensory issues and selective eating) likes it.

  4. Do you nean watergate salad?
    It looks like something people would make in the Midwest. They seem to be into that style of 1970s manufacturers’ recipe foods.

  5. I think your talking about an Ambrosia, or a variation thereof.

    It’s basically a “salad” made with fruit, marshmallows, a ton of cool whip, and in this case pistachios. (There is no set list of ingredients. Think of it like chili, everyone’s version is different)

    They are good as fuck, and everyone should try them!

  6. I can’t ever remember seeing/having potato salad with raisins in it. For the pistachio item, I think that is referred to as Watergate salad or pistachio pudding salad. Not very common.

  7. If OP is talking about Ambrosia salad, I’ve made it while in New York State. It’s definitely more of an old school thing, something that was more popular with my parents and grandparents generations.

  10. >New York doesn’t have these things afaik.

    Someone posted a map here of favorite ice cream by state and apparently, Pistachio is NY’s favorite

    I think it was not *the* favorite of each state.. just that NY eats more pistachio ice cream than anyone else.. (I’ll get down on some pistachio ice cream but I’ve never even heard of pistachio fluff)

  11. First off, no one is putting raisins in potato salad that is not an American thing it’s a weird person thing

    Secondly, Watergate salad/ pistachio fluff is delicious. It’s common in the Midwest

  12. If you’re describing ambrosia salad, yes we have that in New York. It’s kind of an old fashioned dish though so you’re not going to see it often.

  13. Both of these things are uncommon dishes. I’ve lived in 4 states in 4 distinct regions of the country and been alive 46 years and LOVE potato salad and I’ve never seen raisins in potato salad.

    There’s a bit of a trend on social media to highlight recipes from the 1900s that were part of the packaged food revolution. So many recipes using gelatin or Jell-O, lots of weird “salads” (salads can include sweet very sweet recipes that bind ingredients together using Marshmallow Fluff/Cool Whip/etc). Many of these recipes originated from the manufacturers, they derived recipes and even employed people to promote them in stores.

    This stuff was super popular in the northern tier of the country where fresh fruit wasn’t as available as other areas. We had family gatherings with ambrosia (I mean it’s just fruit covered in sweet cream, who wouldn’t like that) and Jell-o molds of every variety imaginable, but I haven’t seen any of that stuff at any potluck table since I was a kid.

  14. What in tarnation, indeed. Have never heard of such an abomination.

    Pistachio fluff, which Granny called “green stuff” was pretty common in the ’70s/’80s in Iowa.

  15. All cultures have their deviants, their misanthropes, their sickos, their perverts, etc…

    It just so happens in the US that they all are located in the Midwest.

  16. I haven’t had pistachio ambrosia in years, and your post brought back good memories of having it at family reunions when I was a child. It’s basically just a fruit and cream pudding, in the same vein as Eton Mess, a British dessert that uses berries instead of pineapple and meringue instead of marshmallows. Another related dessert is pavlova, which comes from Australia/New Zealand. I have a friend who makes absolutely gorgeous pavlovas. and they are heaven on a plate. OMG, I’m drooling just thinking about eating one.

  18. Raisins in potato salad is a crime against food.

    Watergate Salad is perfection on a hot summer night as a dessert.

  20. My family only does cool whip and pistachio pudding, no other ingredients. Don’t knock it til you try it!

  21. You sure you didn’t mean raisins in julienne carrots? That’s quite a ways from potato salad, and a lot more common.

    Pistachio is one of the many flavors of “fluff” available at salad bars in certain restaurants. I’ve never heard of pineapple in it, but I’ve also seen s’more fluff, orange-marshamllow fluff and a few others. You may be able to get little tubs of it at the grocery store.

  25. I have never heard of raisins in potato salads and I suspect it may actually be crime. (joking)
     

    I don’t think I’ve heard of pistachio fluff with pineapples, but I have seen pineapple and other fruits in Coolwhip and other stuff like that.

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