What is Watergate salad, the viral Thanksgiving dish on TikTok?
As the holiday season rolls around, several TikTokers are showing off their culinary creations. Of all the dishes and desserts that are circulating, the so-called Watergate salad is one that’s going viral.
Watergate salad has become a popular dessert on TikTok after Kelly McDuff (@kellyann2339) posted a video of her bringing the dish to an office potluck. McDuff held up a pan of a light-green dessert, and many viewers were confused about exactly what it was.
“Watergate salad is insane,” replied @kelsd90.
“I need to know what Watergate salad is,” commented @trickykappa.
What is Watergate salad?
Carlena Davis (@spilling_the_sweet_tea), a chef and author of Memories on a Plate — Southern Recipes Cookbook — who also has gone viral for her own Watergate salad video — explained to In the Know by Yahoo what goes into the dish.
“The recipe for Watergate salad is crushed pineapple, chopped pecans, marshmallow, pistachio Jell-o pudding mix and Cool Whip,” she said. “It’s a dish that a lot of Southerners really enjoy.”
For Davis, this is a dish her mother and grandmother made, and she isn’t surprised by many online users not knowing what Watergate salad is, saying that it makes sense “if you’re in your late teens or early twenties and didn’t grow up in the South.”
According to NPR, the salad likely got its name because of how similar it is to Watergate cake, a pistachio and coconut-based dessert. Furthermore, the cake’s name is rumored to be a reference to the Watergate Hotel, the site of the political scandal involving former President Richard Nixon.
How to make Watergate salad
After her video went viral with questions about Watergate salad, McDuff posted another video to explain the steps to make the dessert.
Watergate salad has been compared to ambrosia salad by TikTokers who’d never heard of the former.
“Ambrosia salad is what I’ve heard people call it. I’ve never tried it because it looks questionable lol,” replied @momokeno.
“That’s ambrosia salad to us in the north,” commented @eetsmeee.
Both recipes call for pineapple, marshmallows and cool whip, but ambrosia salad adds mandarin oranges, yogurt and coconut.
After McDuff’s video explaining Watergate salad to many TikTokers, the dessert has become widely searched with #watergatesalad garnering over 12 million views.
Even days after the office potluck, McDuff filmed herself enjoying Watergate salad for her viewers.
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The post What is Watergate salad, the viral Thanksgiving dish on TikTok? appeared first on In The Know.
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