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Neufchatel Salad
Cut a Neufchatel or cream cheese lengthwise into halves, then cut each half into thin slices; wash one bunch of small red radishes, dry and cut half of them across into thin slices; wash, drain and dry a bunch of water cress and arrange on the platter; place on this alternate pieces of the cheese and radishes, pour over a French dressing, sprinkle with a little finely chopped parsley, garnish with
A composed salad rather than a tossed one, and it depends almost entirely on the cheese slicing cleanly and the cress being bone dry. The text breaks off mid-garnish, so the finish is left to the cook.
- The cheeseAmerican Neufchatel is a soft, unripened cheese made with a little less fat than cream cheese, sold in the same foil bricks; it is not the French bloomy-rind Neufchâtel. Either American Neufchatel or full-fat cream cheese works, but French Neufchâtel will not slice this way.
- Slicing without smearingChill the cheese hard, then cut with a thin blade wiped between passes, or draw a length of dental floss or fine wire through it. The recipe asks for thin slices; in practice very thin ones tend to slump on the platter, so cut them no thinner than they will hold.
- French dressing, 1900 senseRoughly three parts oil to one part vinegar with salt and pepper, whisked or shaken to a temporary emulsion. Period recipes vary: some add mustard, paprika or a pinch of sugar, others keep it plain. The plain version suits this salad, since the cheese supplies the richness.
- Dry the cressWatercress holds water in its hollow stems. Spin or towel it thoroughly, or the dressing slides off and pools under the leaves. Pick out the thick lower stalks and use the tender sprigs.
- Dress at the tablePour the dressing on immediately before serving. Vinegar wilts cress within a few minutes and softens the cut faces of the cheese.
- Half the radishesThe recipe slices only half the bunch, and the text breaks off just as the garnish is named, so the remainder was presumably intended for it. Trimmed whole radishes or radish roses around the rim are a plausible finish, though the original does not say.
- YieldThe recipe gives no yield. One brick of cheese and a bunch of cress will stretch to about four small salad-course servings, or two as a light lunch.
Salads of this kind belong to the period when soft fresh cheese became a grocery item rather than a dairy chore. Neufchatel-style cheese was being made in New York State from the early 1870s, and foil-wrapped bricks of cream cheese followed, which helps explain why American cookbooks of the period use the two names loosely in a way a French cheesemonger would not. The arrangement -- alternating slices laid on a bed of cress, dressed with plain oil and vinegar and finished with chopped parsley -- is a familiar American composed-salad formula of the era. Watercress was cheap and often gathered wild, and appears frequently in these books.