My mother is the Egg Salad Queen. For as long as I can remember, egg salad was her forte, her favorite thing to make, her most often requested party food. My mother's egg salad never varied--it was heavy on the mayonnaise, and always made on soft white bread (Sunbeam) with the crusts cut off, and cut into finger sandwiches. Eggs, mayo, white bread. And to this day when my mother has her annual Jingle Bells party (aka Christmas for Jews), the first question everyone asks her is, "Are you making egg salad?"
It was a huge accomplishment for my sister and me to be invited to help with the egg salad. One year I proudly peeled all the eggs--only to discover that I had peeled them almost completely down to the yolks. Oops! The egg salad queen was not happy.
My mother says that the secret to her egg salad is the Mouli grater. I've taken pictures of it so you can see what I'm talking about it, and I'm pretty sure you can still get them. It grates the eggs into fine shreds. Mixed with mayonnaise (and in this case other good things), the egg salad becomes smooth and creamy instead of chunky--nursery food.
Not being a super fan of mayonnaise or Sunbeam bread, I've worked out my own variation that's light on the mayo, and served on crunchy whole grain toast. It still has that creamy texture thanks to my Mouli (but I'm sure any fine grater will work). —drbabs
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