By Susan Cole Dore

Inspiration, whether culinary, artistic, or philosophic, appears in many guises. One Sunday evening, faced with the copious remains of my daughter’s school’s barbecue chicken fundraising dinner, I cast about for refrigerator space. Leftovers! I really couldn’t endure the idea of eating barbecue another day.

Suddenly, inspiration! I took all of the tender, slowly-cooked meat off the bone, popped the meat into a plastic bag, and on Monday evening made one of the best chicken salads ever. Lots of chopped celery, good mayonnaise, Creole mustard and the smokey, spicy flavor of the chicken itself combined in one spectacular moment. I felt so smart.

Chicken salad has infinite variation, and just about all of us have quite specific preferences when preparing this cold dish. Sweet pickle? No pickle? Chopped boiled egg? A pinch of cayenne pepper? What follows is a brief compendium of chicken salad styles.

STYLE A — Like Mother always made. This classic chicken salad style is found as far north as the Carnegie Deli on Manhattan’s Seventh Avenue and as far south as my mother’s kitchen in Baton Rouge. Ground boiled or poached chicken (white and dark meat), celery, salt, homemade mayo, and perhaps a tiny dollop of dill relish comprise this delectable sandwich spread. The addition of chopped boiled egg is optional. Slathered between slices of fresh pumpernickel, wedged into the waiting cavity of an onion roll, and topped with cool sliced tomato, Style A chicken salad is the ultimate lunch or picnic food.

STYLE B — Party sandwich chicken salad. Marcelle Bienvenu, my good friend and editor, noted when I approached her about writing this story that her soon-to-be-married nephew had recently pronounced that it just wouldn’t be a wedding without chicken salad sandwiches. His mother raised him right. Nothing soaks up champagne more effectively than delicately spiced, white meat only chicken salad spread between crustless quarters of finely textured, fresh white bread. I personally know several adults who at the end of a good wedding reception realized they had eaten the equivalent of six whole sandwiches, and they didn’t deign to count the number of tiny crawfish pies consumed in one afternoon.

STYLE C — Let your imagination run wild. Style C main dish chicken salads have become a mainstay of home and restaurant menus everywhere. Healthful and brimming with piquant flavors, these salads usually act as centerpieces for pick-of-the-season fruits and vegetables. Dressed with everything from sesame oil to citrus vinaigrette, chicken salad can instantly reflect the tastes of a thoughtful cook. Among the most inspired parings I have encountered are finely chopped chicken draped with a dressing of olive oil, lemon juice, tarragon, and chives on a bed of Belgian endive and Bibb lettuce (divine on a hot day), and a grilled chicken, red pepper, and Vidalia onion melange served on a bed of whole wheat couscous garnished with cucumber and yogurt. Steamed asparagus, naval orange sections, and balsamic vinegar make chicken salad one of the easiest summer meals one can prepare. My favorite cookbook, inherited from my grandmother, lists no fewer than twelve serving variations for chicken salad including chicken and olives, chicken and sweetbreads, and chicken and beef tongue. In this list of chicken salad recipes is one I’m wild to try—a salad BLT that calls for one cup of diced chicken, half a cup of “diced, crisp bacon” and one cup of diced tomato, all blended with a good mayonnaise. I think I’ll have this atop a bed of tender, fresh spinach and grilled shitake mushrooms. I’m inspired again!

PARTY SANDWICH CHICKEN SALAD

Filed Under: Food Talk