My sister sent me this, from Guardian UK. Because we never understood macaroni salad. Whether you “make it” (boil macaroni, slather it in Mayonnaise, add relish), or buy it at Wawa, it’s not really food, is it?
Celebrity cook Elizabeth David. Photograph: PA/Empics
Elizabeth David was the doyenne of food writers. But, says Tim Hayward, the bitchy annotations she wrote in her cookbooks reveal another side of her.
If Britain ever produced a deity in the world of food it was Elizabeth David. Chefs cling to her books and recipes as holy writ, collect old volumes and inhale her biographies like the scent of fresh bread. So I was intrigued when I got a call from Peter Ross, librarian at London Guildhall library and custodian of the vast collection of cookbooks that David bequeathed.
“I think you might find this interesting. According to a note I’ve found, Elizabeth David thought she’d discovered the most revolting dish ever devised.”
Italian salad
1 pint cold cooked macaroni
½ pint cooked or tinned peas
½ pint grated raw carrot
French dressing to moisten
2 heaped tablespoons minced onion
½ pint cooked or minced string beans
Mix the chopped macaroni and vegetables; moisten with French dressing, flavouring with garlic if liked. Serve on a dish lined with lettuce leaves. Decorate with mayonnaise and minced pimento or chives.
I DARE YOU.