Strange But Delicious. A Popular Iowa Dessert

It goes by many names, and I grew up eating it for every holiday dinner. It is both a dessert and a side dish. It is a bit of a mystery but loved by many. Sources state that this dish originated with the Jell-O brand.

Watergate salad

It's such a weird name for a great-tasting dish. The names and ingredients are as follows.

Watergate salad, also referred to as Pistachio Delight, Shut the Gate salad, or Nixon Pudding is a side dish salad or dessert salad made from pistachio pudding, canned pineapple, whipped topping, crushed pecans, and marshmallows.

The History Of  Watergate Salad

Why on earth would a dish like this, which is loved in the Midwest be named "Watergate salad" There are a lot of rumors, but one that has the most proof comes from NPR.

In the past, confectioners were keen to offer a taste of the zeitgeist — think of the Charleston Chew and the Baby Ruth candy bars. Not so with Jell-O. They called the dish the pineapple pistachio delight. The company didn't attach the Watergate name to the dessert until 1993.

Still a bit confusing seeing as though many people also warned that it wasn't a good name since it was tied to a political scandal. Still, the name stuck. Some rumors even said that the salad was a specialty of the Watergate. That makes more sense but has never been confirmed.

It's also crazy that this isn't a salad. Maybe that's why it is named after a scandal. Is it not scandals to call something a salad when it is more of a fruit dish or dessert? I think I cracked the code.

I have clearly lost my mind at this point. It looks like the name was catchy, and made people look twice when hearing the wild name so that was the one that stuck.