Delis salads fall into a class of their own.
Think of a roast beef or pastrami sandwich on rye and I’ll show you a side of potato salad, coleslaw or Waldorf. It’s a trio of classics that never grow stale, born out of a generation that grew up believing pickled cucumbers actually counted as a green vegetable.
Tastes have, of course, become more sophisticated, and deli counters today groan under the weight of salad choices that range from Caesar to Coronation Chicken, three-bean to couscous.
The definition of a salad now stretches to include chefs’ salads, warm salads, marinated salads and what are essentially cold vegetable stews. Dressings range from Green Goddess to Russian and Ranch.
You can get far too fancy-shamcy, of course – at the end of the day, all a good bagel needs is a side order of something simple, straightforward and homemade.
And never, ever, say ‘hold the mayo’.