CREATED AT THE EXCLUSIVE BELLE MEADE COUNTRY Club in Nashville, this has to be the most exotic Southern salad in the history of the Confederacy—and one of the most mysteriously delicious. I first tasted the
salad a few years ago when my mother and I were entertained at the club, but it was not till Julia Reed, my food-obsessed Mississippian friend and fellow author, persuaded an intrepid pal of hers to march into the clubhouse kitchen and ask the chef himself for the sacred recipe, that any of us learned just how to make the unusual dish. This is one recipe I’d never dream of tampering with, and I suggest you follow my example. At the club, they serve the salad with distinctive fried hot water corncakes, but since neither Julia nor I nor anybody else would dare try to replicate these tricky wonders, I settle for my more ordinary but very good Hot-Water Cornbread. (Note: if you don’t add a little red food coloring to the mixture, the salad will be pale pink.)

Makes 5 to 10 servings

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups tomato juice
• 3 cups Hellmann’s mayonnaise, plus more for garnish
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 3⁄4 cup crushed pineapple
• 1⁄4 cup cream cheese
• 1⁄4 cup cottage cheese
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• Tabasco sauce to taste
• Red food coloring
• Salt and white pepper to taste
• Boston or Bibb lettuce leaves

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a blender, combine 2 cups of tomato juice, 1 cup of mayonnaise, chopped onion, crushed pineapple, cream cheese, cottage cheese, Worcestershire sauce, and Tabasco.
2. Blend the ingredients until smooth and scrape the mixture into a bowl.
3. In the same blender, combine the remaining tomato juice and mayonnaise. Blend until smooth, adding enough red food coloring to achieve the desired tomato-like color.
4. Add this mixture to the bowl and whisk until well blended and smooth.
5. Season the mixture with salt, white pepper, and additional Tabasco if desired.
6. Scrape the mixture into a large baking dish with a depth of 2 inches and freeze.
7. To serve, arrange lettuce leaves on salad plates.
8. Place 1 or 2 scoops of the frozen tomato mixture on top of the lettuce.
9. Garnish each scoop with a dollop of mayonnaise.