Schnucks has brought back its founder’s long-lost recipe for potato salad that recently was rediscovered by her granddaughter.
Anna Schnuck’s Original Potato Salad, made using that 1939 recipe, is now available in the deli/prepared foods department at all Schnucks locations.
The side dish features red-skin potatoes and double-smoked bacon lardons folded together with caramelized onions. It is balanced with sugar and black pepper, then topped with hand-sliced hard-boiled eggs.
History
As the Great Depression was winding down, Anna Donovan “Mom” Schnuck was looking for a way to share her potato salad, a family favorite frequently requested by friends and neighbors.
According to the company, her dream was to open a small store to sell the potato salad and other fresh dishes made with ingredients from her kitchen.
In 1939, she did just that – opening a 1,000-square-foot corner confectionery at 3968 Labadie in north St. Louis. Eighty-seven years later, Schnucks has grown to more than 100 stores throughout the Midwest.
Her original handwritten recipe was lost for decades until granddaughter Lori Willibrand – the daughter of Annette Hanhardt, Anna Schnuck’s daughter – found it in a stack of her mother’s old papers.
At a holiday gathering, she gave her seven cousins their grandmother’s recipe. They were astounded at the find.
“Heart” of the company
“Holding my grandmother’s recipe in my hands felt like reconnecting with the very heart of this company,” said Todd Schnuck, chairman and CEO of Schnucks. “It’s a powerful reminder that before we were a regional grocer, we were just a family in a kitchen, driven by a passion for good food and a desire to serve our neighbors.
“For our family, this isn’t just about a side dish; it’s a tribute to my grandmother’s courage to start something new during a period of such economic uncertainty. This recipe represents the very foundation of our commitment to quality and to nourishing people’s lives.
“Bringing Anna’s Original Potato Salad back to our stores is our way of sharing our family’s history and a seat at our table with every customer who walks through our doors.”
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