Every region of this great country has its own take on food and the South truly is no exception.
For those of us in the South… allow me to rephrase that…for those of us born and raised in the South, nothing can compare to Southern staples such as sweet tea, fried catfish or grits, all held in high esteem below the Mason-Dixon line.
The same cannot be said of all Southern dishes. Take the lowly pear salad, for instance. Almost a requirement at reunions and church socials, the pear salad does not share the same glory or esteem as many others. Let us take a moment to consider its merits.
First and foremost, a pear salad is not truly a salad, at least not to me. I believe it is only called a salad because each pear half sits upon a leaf of iceberg lettuce.
Each pear half is topped with a dollop of Duke’s mayonnaise. Please do not attempt to substitute Hellman’s or that ungodly impostor, Miracle Whip, for the Duke’s. We can tell the difference.
What size dollop, you ask? That depends on the size of your spoon, the size of the pear half and how much Duke’s mayonnaise you have or are willing to part with. A somewhat rounded table spoon will usually suffice.
This dollop of Duke’s mayonnaise is then topped with a sprinkling of shredded cheddar cheese, the sharper the better. Of course, Southerners will top purt-near anything with cheddar cheese, including desserts like apple pie or pound cake. Trust me on this. I speak from experience.
The finishing touch is a maraschino cherry. Those who want to impress their family or church members will gladly use a whole cherry. The more frugal ones will cut the cherry in half and place only one half on each pear. It always saddens me when there is only a half of a cherry on top. I always think to myself, “Why did they even bother to bring a pear salad if they were going to skimp?”
I am a little confused by the lettuce. I understand if you’re confused about the whole dish, but the lettuce brings up a very important question. Why is it there? A majority of the time those taking a pear salad will scoop the pear and leave the leaf of lettuce behind. Even those who take the lettuce leaf usually leave it on their plate.
It is my belief this iconic Southern recipe was first created by a very desperate woman who needed something to take to a family reunion and found only these items as she scrambled frantically to find something reasonably edible to prepare.
Upon arrival at the reunion, there was great debate on whether to set the dish with the salads, the sides or the desserts. It was finally decided that the pear salads would be placed somewhere between the salads and sides.
Of course, a born-and-bred Southerner has no choice but to take one of the pear salads when making his way through the wondrous assortment of foods on display. I use the term wondrous loosely because many of the dishes cause attendees to wonder what they are, and then even after sampling them they are still not quite certain.
In any case, it’s almost a sin not to take a pear salad when “fixing your plate.” The same can be said of deviled eggs. I often try to work my way near the front of the line at one of these social events if I have looked over the tables and see only one tray of deviled eggs.
Other unsung Southern favorites include pineapple sandwiches (again with Duke’s mayonnaise), buttered biscuits with a slice of homegrown (preferred) tomato, and cracklin’ cornbread. You have not truly eaten cornbread until you have tried it with chunks of hog fat baked in.
I see that I am quickly running out of space for this week. Maybe sometime soon we can discuss the finer points of chittlin’s, or head cheese.
Then again, maybe not. I’m headed for the kitchen for now. I suddenly have a craving for a fried baloney sandwich… with yellow mustard. Bet you thought I was going to say Duke’s mayonnaise, didn’t ya?
Contact Mark Berryman at mberryman@chieflandcitizen.com.
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July 30, 2020 at 07:57PM
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A tribute to the lowly pear salad | ChieflandCitizen.com - Chiefland Citizen
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