This Retro (and Controversial) “Minnesota” Grape Salad Deserves a Comeback

They say time heals all wounds, but as a young, naïve, born-and-bred Minnesotan trying to find her footing as a food writer back in 2014, there’s one wallop I will always remember: the infamous representation of Minnesota in the New York Times’ United States of Thanksgiving.

In putting their interactive holiday recipe collection together, NYT editors claimed to have “scoured the nation for recipes that evoke each of the 50 states.” As I began scrolling through, skimming other states’ picks like Georgia’s pecan pie and Indiana’s persimmon pudding, my mind raced through what could possibly make the cut for Minnesota: probably wild rice, maybe Spam, perhaps even Jell-O.

Then I saw the recipe: Grape Salad. As I read the accompanying text, I was floored. Was there something about my heritage, my state, that I hadn’t been exposed to? Did grapes even grow well here? Who broils fruit salad? A Minnesota-born heiress? I needed answers.

I confronted everyone I knew, including my great-grandma, to write one of my very first food blog posts. I checked every church cookbook I could get my hands on as a source: no one had heard of grape salad. Of course, I wasn’t the only one confused, offended, and ready to write about it. Tons of articles quickly surfaced, and #grapegate swept through Twitter with gems like, “My favorite part of the holiday is pruning my family grape tree for our traditional grape hot dish.” and “‘I can’t wait to have Grandma’s Grape Salad at Thanksgiving!!’—said no one from Minnesota. Ever.”

As it turns out, this recipe did have a Minnesota connection. The Twin Cities Pioneer Press reported that a dish called Grapes Devonshire—though served as a dessert, not a salad—has been on the menu at the Lowell Inn in Stillwater, Minnesota since 1960. Does this alone make it a good representative of a Minnesota Thanksgiving? No. But I suppose it gives a sliver of credence to the choice.

Reclaiming the Recipe

It’s been over ten years since the grape salad debacle, and while it’s a significant example of the way Midwestern cuisine is often misunderstood by cultural gatekeepers, I think most of us Minnesotans look back on it now and laugh.

For me, it’s definitely still a core memory from the early years of my career. Aggrieved though I was, I can see that this incident only further cemented my interest in pursuing food writing. So I think it’s about time for me to reclaim this retro recipe, not only because it tastes good and is incredibly easy to make, but because creamy, cool, perhaps even Miracle Whip-spiked fruit salads are truly a part of Minnesota’s culinary heritage.

And who knows, maybe a comeback will turn this once-scorned grape salad into an actual Thanksgiving tradition. This time, though, it’ll be from a real Minnesotan, one who knows better than to put fruit salad anywhere near the broiler.

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