Waldorf salad had been invented in 1896 by Oscar Tschirky, a dining room manager at New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Originally, the salad consisted of apples, celery, and mayonnaise, and was a huge success. Interestingly, finely chopped walnuts were added to the salad much later, in 1928, although most people associate the salad with walnuts as the key ingredient.

Today, Waldorf salad is usually served cold as an appetizer, on a bed of lettuce, while ingredients such as chicken, raisins, or grapes are sometimes added in the modern versions of this elegant dish.