 A Crab Louie salad in Fort Bragg, California in 2024. | |
| Alternative names | Crab Louis |
|---|---|
| Course | Hors d'œuvre |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Region or state | West Coast |
| Serving temperature | Chilled or room temperature |
| Main ingredients | Crab meat, hard-boiled eggs, tomato, asparagus, Iceberg lettuce, Louis dressing |
Crab Louie salad, also known as Crab Louis salad or the King of Salads, is a type of salad featuring crab meat. The recipe dates back to the early 1900s and originates on the West Coast of the United States.
History
The exact origins of the dish are uncertain, but it is known that Crab Louie was being served in San Francisco, at Solari's, as early as 1914. A recipe for Crab Louie exists from this date in Bohemian San Francisco by Clarence E. Edwords, and for a similar "Crabmeat a la Louise" salad in the 1910 edition of a cookbook by Victor Hirtzler, head chef of the city's St. Francis Hotel. Another early recipe is found in The Neighborhood Cook Book, compiled by the Portland Council of Jewish Women in 1912. San Francisco's Bergez-Frank's Old Poodle Dog restaurant menu included "Crab Leg à la Louis (special)" in 1908, named for the chef Louis Coutard who died in May 1908.
Other accounts place the salad's origin as The Davenport Hotel in Spokane, Washington; or the Olympic Club in Seattle.
Ingredients
The main ingredient for Crab Louie, as the name suggests, is crab meat. The preferred crab is Dungeness crab, but other crab meat can be substituted, including cheaper imitation crab meat. Although variations of the recipe exist, an essential ingredient is a creamy dressing such as Louis dressing, Thousand Island dressing or Green goddess dressing. This dressing is either served on the side or mixed with the other ingredients, depending on which recipe is used.
A typical Crab Louie salad consists of:
- Crab meat
- Hard boiled eggs
- Tomato
- Asparagus
- a bed of Iceberg lettuce
- Louis dressing, based on mayonnaise and chili sauce
Other ingredients such as olives and green onions have also been listed in some recipes.
A variation called the Lobster Louie is prepared the same way, but substitutes lobster instead of crab meat.
See also
References
- Jess Kapadia (April 16, 2012). "The King of Salads: Crab Louie". Retrieved January 2, 2019.
- "Crab Louie Salad History and Recipe". What's Cooking America. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
- History of Salads (USA)
- Solari's Bohemian Dinner
- Weinstein, Jeff: "Condiment Time Travel," in ArtsJournal, 3/8/2011, with images of the original Hotel St. Francis cookbook from 1910.
- Valerie Phillips (2003-05-21). "A salad by any other name..." Deseret News. Archived from the original on May 24, 2014.
- Engeman, Richard. "Crab Louis". Archived from the original on 2014-05-24. Retrieved 2013-03-23.
- Peters, Erica J., San Francisco: A Food Biography. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2013, p. 182.
- Harrington, Kirsten (April 4, 2012). "Salad Mystery". Inlander. Retrieved November 25, 2024.
- "Typical Crab Louie salad recipe". Archived from the original on 2008-02-11. Retrieved 2008-01-07.
- James Beard (2010). James Beard's American Cookery. Little, Brown and Company. p. 45. ISBN 031609868X.
