Never heard of cracker salad? You’re probably not from southeast Georgia. Even if you are, that’s no guarantee. “I got introduced to it at a family reunion in Nahunta, which is a little tiny town between here and Waycross,” says Lance Williams, who runs the Mallery Street Café in St. Simons. Cracker salad is an honest-to-goodness Peach State tradition, though. It’s a signature side at small-town spots like Jones Kitchen in Jesup, and Paula Deen published a recipe for it in the original Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook. Some cooks use Ritz and others Saltines, but the concept is the same either way: Crumbled crackers, chopped tomatoes, salt, pepper, and sometimes other seasonings and vegetables, all folded into a mayonnaise base. Williams calls for just four simple ingredients in a recipe that brings to mind another Southern summer favorite. “Cracker salad is basically a tomato sandwich in salad form,” he says. The time to make it is now, with the best tomatoes you can find. Just don’t let it sit in the fridge. “This salad is a make-it-right-before-you-serve-it kind of thing.” That way, the crackers retain some of their crispness. Feel free to add chopped fresh dill, mustard, or other extras to this surprisingly satisfying formula.
