Ambrosia Salad

📜 Origin & History

Ambrosia Salad ('Ambrosia' dessert salad) is an American sweet salad dish: canned fruits (mandarin oranges, pineapple chunks, maraschino cherries), miniature marshmallows, shredded coconut, and fresh fruits are mixed together in a dressing made from whipped cream, sour cream, or whipped topping (Cool Whip) and served cold. Ambrosia Salad takes its name from the food of the gods of the Greek Olympus (Ambrosia = food of the gods); the first written recipe appeared in 1867 in an American cookbook. Ambrosia Salad is a required dish on Thanksgiving and Christmas tables in the southern U.S. states (Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee). Cool Whip (Kraft Foods, since 1966) revolutionized the Ambrosia Salad recipe; the ready-made whipped cream became the standard ingredient from the 1970s onward. Ambrosia Salad is an example of the American 'convenience food' tradition, in which canned fruits and ready-made products are basic ingredients of festive dishes.