26th Jan 2026 Does anyone remember the 'man salad' trend of around 2018-2023? I assume only me? It started with weird articles cropping up in the more avant-garde parts of the internet like [JSTOR ](https://daily.jstor.org/when-salad-was-manly/) talking about how salads in the '40's were considered 'masculine' foods and how only 'real men' could make a *real* salad that was "never sweet and fussy like a woman's"[^1]. A weird obsession took over small-scale media outlets that primarily pander to male health nuts: You had odd articles like [15 Salads Even A 'Manly' Man Could Eat](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/salads-for-men_l_5c478cf5e4b083c46d636707) from obscure corners of the internet such as... …The Huffington Post? The idea went viral: from there it turned into this cacophony of strange hyper-gendered recipes being posted absolutely fucking everywhere with bizarre, wanky statements like "this salad will please even the manliest man in your life" and "turn rabbit food into man food"[^2]. For a good few years all salads had to for some reason appeal specifically to a strange subset of men that spent too much of their time on male-only forums, wouldn't wear scarves because they were 'effeminate' and swore up-and-down that the G-spot was feminist propaganda. Fruit, leaves and anything sweet were out, and oversized portions of steak and eggs were in. In 2023 a lot of culinary-focused media outlets realised something; for most men that have to engender their recipes to reaffirm what's between their legs, the same men usually don't have the attention span necessary to click on advertisements. The trend fizzled out and was replaced by clickbait-y '[watch me eat a whole head of lettuce in one sitting](https://www.tiktok.com/@logagm/video/7400774697283210501?lang=en-GB)' videos. Moral of the story is don't restrict your diet based on gender norms written by a wife-beating, twice divorcee from the 1940's[^3]who spent ten months in a British prison for blackmailing women. Anyway here's a salad I made this evening. ## Tuna Salad ## Ingredients Makes 2 portions - [[Tuna]], one can, in olive oil - [[Olives]], large green, - [[Pomegranate seeds]], - [[Salad]] mix, such as an Italian leaves combo - [[Balsamic Vinegar]] - [[Honey]], to taste Salt and pepper to taste. ## Method 1. Remove tuna from can into a bowl or pyrex tub and add salt, then balsamic vinegar. Gently stir to combine without breaking up the tuna too much, and leave somewhere convenient. 2. Slice olives in half. 3. In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients together and gently mix. 4. Carefully spoon the mixture out, making sure to get the large pieces 5. of tuna on the top of the salad. [^1]: Yes, this is a genuine quote from *Esquire* magazine from one of their 1940's editions. [^2]: I won't be linking these recipes - not only are they cringe but also bad [^3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iles_Brody