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Chrysanthemum Salad
Use very small seedless oranges. Cut clear through the skins in narrow strips, three-fourths of the way down to bottom of oranges. Be careful not to break them apart. Remove pulp, and cut in long slivers. Place oranges on lettuce leaves on individual salad plates, fill centers with the orange slivers and long slender pieces of pared apple. Serve with French fruit dressing.
A garnish-salad of the sort that carried a formal dinner course in the 1920s and 30s: the peel is cut into petals so the fruit opens like a flower on the plate. Nearly all the work is knife work.
- The cut is the whole dishCut through the peel from the top down in narrow strips, stopping about three-quarters of the way to the base so the strips stay joined at the bottom. Peel each strip back and outward without detaching it; those are the petals.
- Which oranges"Very small seedless oranges" points to a small fruit with no pips. Satsumas or clementines are a practical modern stand-in, and their loose skin peels back into petals more easily than a navel orange. Allow one per plate.
- Removing the pulpOnce the petals are folded down, lift the segments out whole, then strip away membrane before slivering. Do this over a bowl and reserve the juice for the dressing.
- The appleCut the pared apple into matchsticks just before serving and toss them in a little of the reserved orange juice, or they will brown in the time it takes to plate the rest. A firm, tart variety holds its shape better than a soft eating apple.
- French fruit dressingIn books of this era that means a vinaigrette softened for fruit: oil with lemon or orange juice in place of some of the vinegar, a spoonful of sugar or honey, salt, and often paprika. Roughly three parts oil to one part citrus juice, shaken hard, is in keeping with the period.
- Assembly and holdingCut and shape the orange cups ahead if you like, but fill and dress them only as the plates go out. Dressing sitting in the fruit shell will wilt the lettuce beneath within a few minutes.
- Yield and placementOne orange per person, served as a separate salad course. It is light enough to follow a heavy main course and is not intended as a meal.