Chicken Salad in the South: A Rite of Passage

Whether you are married or buried in the South, one thing is certain: you will be served chicken salad.

Chicken salad isn’t just food, it’s a gesture of love, a sign of welcome, and sometimes, a well-meaning bribe. In the South, chicken salad is a tradition, a memory, a whole mood.

I love regional cookbooks. Many have become cultural touchstones that reflect a sense of place. They preserve tradition. They keep old recipes alive that might otherwise disappear. Grandmother's fig preserves, your aunt’s vinegar pie, a church lady’s tomato aspic—these things aren’t often found on the internet or in glossy, celebrity-driven cookbooks.