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AMBROSIA! by PABLEAUX JOHNSON

photo by ROMNEY CARUSO

and family tradition. It can be fussy or free- form, fruity or creamy, studded with mini- marshmallows or layered with whipped topping for decadence. My grandmother’s version was a deceptively simple dish — four ingredients, all fruit — and legendary in our family’s holiday memories. Instead of mandarin orange sections, Lorelle (Mamma to her grandkids) surgically peeled fresh Louisiana navel oranges, removing seeds and any trace of tough connective membrane. The resulting morsels contained nothing but the pure, juicy buds of peak, in-season, local citrus, and what my little sister Elaine calls “Joy. Like someone peeling boiled crawfish for you and just handing you the tails. Pure deliciousness without obstacle.” The tangy citrus was offset with savory shards of fresh-grated coconut meat and fragrant chunks of syrupy crushed pineap- ple (a flavor memory set in tradition well

before whole pineapples populated the produce section). Bright-red cocktail cher- ries (for color and fun), thoroughly drained on paper towels so’s not to “pinkify” the top layer of snowy coconut flakes, were the finishing touch. In a house where baked sweets reigned supreme, the mere thought of Christmas ambrosia made us swoon. But the process of creating said “food of the gods” was surprisingly compli- cated because of Mamma’s insistence on dish-specific perfection. There might be some wiggle room with oatmeal cookies or lemon pound cake, but Christmas ambrosia needed to be perfect, just as she remembered it from her childhood in North Louisiana’s Catahoula Parish. Lorelle’s ambrosia recipe was simple; it was the process that required the exacting, precise labor of the whole family. Opening pineapple cans and de-stemming fluores-

WHEN IT COMES TO CLASSICS OF THE SOUTHERN CULINARY REPERTOIRE AMBROSIA FRUIT SALAD STANDS OUT AS A LOVABLE ODDBALL. More traditional families can’t imagine Christ- mas parties without a Tupperware container full of the stuff — a love child of tropical- fruit trifle and 1950s-era congealed salad. Often closer to dessert-like indulgence than a genuine “fruit salad,” ambrosia’s basic flavors — sugared oranges, pineapple and coconut — can contain any range of sweet additions (peeled green grapes, sour cream for creaminess, mara- schino cherries for pizzazz). It’s the mystery dish of the holiday table, a sweet crowd-pleaser that somehow got grandfathered into the “salad” category. Most Southern cooks are on a first-name basis with the dish, with good reason. Ambrosia can involve an easy, stir-together prep or a complicated, layered presentation, with plenty of latitude for improvisation

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