“Watergate Salad”, however, has rather an obscure pedigree; with a humble beginning of Ambrosia and the addition of chopped pistachio nuts; creating Pistachio Salad. In 1975, Kraft Foods offered consumers a new flavor in the Jell-O pudding line, pistachio; a recipe for Pistachio Pineapple Delight appeared on the box. This dessert salad picked up names, along its United States journey, such as Pistachio Delight, Shut the Gate Salad, Green Goop, Green Fluff or Green Stuff. It was not until The Denver Post, in the Empire Magazine of June 27, 1976, published a recipe for Watergate Salad; stating that the recipe was developed by a sous chef at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. When scandal hit the White House, and President Richard Nixon, the recipe took off like wildfire. At the same time, a Watergate Cake was developed with “cover-up icing and full of nuts”; along with other satirically named recipes such as Nixon's Perfectly Clear Consommé and Liddy's Clam-Up Chowder. Kraft even changed the name on the pistachio pudding box to Watergate Salad to keep up with the presidential scandal.
Perusing through my Utah
based cookbooks, lime Jell-O made many an appearance in recipes; pudding, not
so much. Even the use of pistachios was
kept to the more garden type salads, or as a main ingredient for salad
dressing. Various bloggers, from Utah,
mentioned family reunions in which Pistachio Salad was present; the recipes being
variations of the original Jell-O pudding recipe. Does that mean Utahns aren’t cracked up about
pistachios? Au-contraire! Located in Hurricane, Utah, Red Rock Ranch
Pistachio Orchards (http://rpistachios.com/) has been producing a unique variety of pistachios
for over ten years. The dry climate of
the desert gives the nuts sweeter flavor and greener coloring; while high in
fat, they are low in carbohydrates.
Here is the original
recipe for Pistachio Pineapple Delight (1975), later renamed as Watergate Salad
(1976).
Ingredients:
1 can (20 oz.) crushed
pineapple in juice, undrained
1 package (3.4 oz.) Jell-O
Pistachio Flavor Instant Pudding 1 and ½ cups thawed Cool Whip Whipped Topping
1 cup Jet-Puffed miniature marshmallows
½ cup Planters chopped pecans
Preparation:
Combine Ingredients. Refrigerate 1 hour.
Makes 8 – about ½ cups
servings each.
Mary Cokenour