Serve up a delicious Southern pear saladand a dose of nostalgia.

Pear salad is Exhibit A that perhaps Southerners do not know what the word “salad” means.

I was born in the South.

Pear salads with mayonnaise, lettuce, cheese, and cherries - Southern Living

Credit:Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox

I’ve lived here my entire life.

But ladies and gentlemen,pear salad is not a salad.

However, it is delightful.

Pear Salad on a plate - Southern Living

Credit:Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox

That recipe featured pears on a bed of lettuce, drizzled with a mayonnaise dressing.

The peculiar additions of cherries and cheese are a mystery.

But I’d be willing to bet you two cans of pears that the 1950s are to blame.

So Why Can’t Southerners Figure Out What Salad Is?

Now wait a minute.

That’s not fair!

But waitit kinda is?

There’sHam Salad,Egg Salad, andChicken Salad.

But what aboutStrawberry Pretzel Salad,Orange Sherbet Salad, and all the Fluff SaladsCranberry,Pistachio, andPineapple?

And then there’sTomato Aspic, which we Southerners also consider a salad.

And Why Do Folks Like Pear Salad?

Fast-forward 50+ years, and that’s how nostalgia works, folks.

I mean, aren’t you curious to try just one bite?

Should I Serve Pear Salad At My Next Dinner Party?

Dang, that would be a riot.

I mean, why not?

Half the people will love you for ringing their nostalgia bell.

A solid one-quarter of the guests will totally think you’ve lost your mind.

The remaining quarter will be polite and try itand may be surprised to discover they actually like it.

But What About That Cherry!

I know, I know…

It throws me, too.

I honestly don’t care for fresh pears that much, canned pears even less.

But I mean, I’m Southern; mayonnaise makes almost anything edible.

With all that cloying syrupy almondy sweetness?

It makes alarmingly little sense.

But step back and look at the composed plate.

That pear salad is lookin' at you, right?

The cherry is for the kids.

It’s got to be.

That’s the only reason a person would have made that decision.

Ingredients

1headlettuce

1(15-oz.)

Drain canned pear halves, and place open-face-up on top of lettuce.

Top each pear half with a maraschino cherry.