Behind the Menu: Miss Hilda's Salad

Yesterday I joined The Pope for lunch at Mandina's with his father, The Bald Eagle, who has a longstanding tradition of Monday lunch at that Mid City landmark. Now I will agree that Mandina's serves neither the best nor the most innovative food, but I still love it for what it is: a neighborhood restaurant which thrives while the rest of that genre (Katie's and Landry's for example) have slowly faded away. And thrive it has, with a number of people still waiting at the bar when I left around 1:30.

Luckily for me, The Bald Eagle was already seated and had an Old Fashioned in hand when I arrived. After a shared appetizer of onion rings and what seemed like an entire basket of melba toast, I opted for a cup of turtle soup and Miss Hilda's Salad. My order prompted a history lesson from The Bald Eagle, who is a veteran of the local restaurant industry:

The Bald Eagle: Do you know why it's called Miss Hilda's Salad?
Peter: No.
The Bald Eagle: Because Miss Hilda did not want to call it a WOP Salad, even though that's basically what it is, so she named it after herself.
Peter: That's interesting. But can you explain why there are enough salted meats, cheese, and anchovies in this salad to cause me instant hypertension?
The Bald Eagle: Shut up, a**hole.

And now you've heard ... the rest of the story.