Salad is any of a wide variety of dishes including: green salads; vegetable salads; salads of pasta, legumes, or grains; mixed salads incorporating meat, poultry, or seafood; and fruit salads. They include a mixture of cold and hot, often including raw vegetables and/or fruits.

Green salads include leaf lettuce and vegetables with a sauce or dressing. Other salads are based on pasta, noodles, or gelatin. Most salads are traditionally served cold, although some, such as south German potato salad, are served warm.

The word “salad” comes from the French salade of the same meaning, which in turn is from the Latin salata, “salty”, from sal, “salt”

The United States popularized salads in the late 19th century and other regions of the world adopted them throughout the second half of the 20th century.

Green salads including leaf lettuces are generally served with a dressing, as well as various toppings such as nuts or croutons, and sometimes with the addition of meat, fish, pasta, cheese, eggs, or whole grains. Salad is often served as an appetizer before a larger meal, but can also be a side dish, or a main course, but it doesn’t always have to be served in a bowl.

Popular salad garnishes are anchovies, bacon bits (real or imitation), garden beet, bell peppers, shredded carrots, diced celery, cress, croutons, sliced cucumber, parsley, sliced mushrooms, sliced red onion, radish, sunflower seeds (shelled), real or artificial crab meat (surimi) and cherry tomatoes. Various cheeses, nuts, berries, seeds and other ingredients can also be added to green salads. Blue cheese, Parmesan cheese, and feta cheese are often used. Color considerations are sometimes highlighted by using edible flowers, red radishes, and other colorful ingredients.

You can find authentic Armenian Salad on many Armenian Restaurants in Los Angeles.

Mayonnaise (often abbreviated to mayo) is a thick condiment. White or yellowish-white in color, it is a stable emulsion of oil, salt, and vinegar or lemon juice which uses egg yolks as an emulsifier. In France, sometimes mustard is added as a flavoring, whereas in Spain it is made using the same ingredients, but specifically olive oil as the oil, and never with mustard. Numerous other sauces can be created from it by adding additional seasonings.

There are a number of different explanations for the origin of the term mayonnaise.

The most probable origin of mayonnaise’s is that the recipe was brought back to France from the town of Mahon in Menorca, after Louis-François-Armand du Plessis de Richelieu’s victory over the British at the city’s port in 1756. According to this version, the sauce was originally known as salsa mahonesa (as it is still known on Menorca), later becoming mayonnaise as it was popularized by the French.

Mayonnaise can be made by hand with a mortar and pestle, whisk or fork, or with the aid of an electric mixer, an electric blender, or a food processor. Mayonnaise is made by slowly adding oil to an egg yolk, while whisking vigorously to disperse the oil. The oil and the water in yolks form a base of the emulsion, while the lecithin from the yolks is the emulsifier that stabilizes it. Additionally, a bit of a mustard may also be added to sharpen its taste, and further stabilize the emulsion. Mustard contains small amounts of lecithin.

Homemade mayonnaise can approach 85% fat before the emulsion breaks down; commercial mayonnaises are more typically 70-80% fat. “Low fat” mayonnaise products contain starches, cellulose gel, or other ingredients to simulate the texture of real mayonnaise.

Worldwide, mayonnaise is commonly served in a sandwich, or with salad such as potato salad or canned tuna (“tuna mayo” or tuna salad).

You can find authentic Armenian Mayonnaise on many Armenian Restaurants in Los Angeles.