Shrimp Salad
1 can shrimps 1 stalk celery 1 head lettuce 1/2 cup Mayonnaise dressing Olives and radishes Remove the shrimps from the can; cover with cold water and let stand a few minutes. Drain; dry between towels, and break into small pieces. Cut the celery into half-inch pieces; mix with the shrimps and the Mayonnaise dressing, and arrange on lettuce leaves, garnishing with olives or radishes. 1 can salmon 1 head lettuce
A plain composed salad of the sort that filled the middle of an early twentieth-century luncheon menu. Two things need translating: the size of the can and the meaning of "stalk" of celery.
- The stray last lineThe words "1 can salmon 1 head lettuce" at the end appear to be the opening ingredients of the next recipe on the page rather than part of the shrimp salad.
- "1 stalk celery"In this period "stalk" of celery often means the whole head, what a market now calls a bunch, though usage varied. Three or four ribs from the heart suit a can of shrimp; a full bunch will bury the shellfish.
- The canCanned shrimp of the period came in a small tin; a modern 4 to 5 oz can, or the same weight of cooked small shrimp, is a reasonable stand-in for the one can called for.
- Why the cold-water soakThis is the hinge of the recipe. Canned shrimp of the era carried a strong metallic, briny taste from the packing liquid, and a few minutes in cold water followed by drying between towels was the standard fix. If you substitute fresh cooked shrimp, skip the soak entirely.
- Check for the veinOlder canned shrimp were often packed unveined. Look them over and pull the dark dorsal line if it is there; it is harmless but gritty.
- Mayonnaise"Mayonnaise dressing" here refers to a dressing made from scratch elsewhere in the book rather than a jarred product. Commercial mayonnaise works; loosen it with a teaspoon of lemon juice so it coats rather than clumps.
- Serve it coldThe recipe gives no chilling instruction. Dress the shrimp and celery, chill 30 minutes, then arrange on the lettuce at the last moment so the leaves stay crisp.
- YieldRoughly four small salad-course portions, or two as a light lunch; the recipe gives no yield.
Canned shrimp made this kind of salad possible for households nowhere near the Gulf or the Carolina coast, and by the 1910s and 1920s the tin was a common pantry item alongside canned salmon and tuna. The salad chapter reflects the era's fondness for a cold dressed course served on a lettuce leaf with olives and radishes for color. The salmon recipe whose opening line has bled onto this page suggests how interchangeable these canned-fish salads were: one formula, several tins.