Dawnville Rant: Chicken Salad Gone Wrong

From time to time, I will use this blog as a place to express my dismay with certain issues related to the food industry.  Today's rant centers around the adulteration of classic foods for no good reason.  Picture me at lunchtime, already starving due to noon meeting.  I decided to forego my usual salad bar at De la Cruz Deli (near McAfee headquarters in Santa Clara) in favor of a chicken salad sandwich.  They're a favorite of mine, but due to calorie counting I usually avoid them.  But I deserved a treat, I thought.  Well it turned out to be a trick.  

First of all, who puts thigh meat in chicken salad?   Chicken salad should have white-meat only. I am not opposed to other additions like curry and apples and nuts.  I've even had a pineapple and almond version that really surprised me.  However, this version was so overwhelmed by thyme, and big chunks of dark meat that I couldn't eat it. I don't like to waste food, especially in these times, but it just wasn't good.  I had to throw it away.   The moral of the story is don't mess with a classic--unless you can improve it.

That said, if you are in the market for a classic, Beli Deli in Belmont, California has an excellent chicken salad sandwich as well as delicious deviled eggs.