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Andy’s mac salad
was ‘da best’

Today we feature the good-karma mantra of "give a little, get a little," and the hopeful tale of Curt Briggs and the red and yellow sauces.

Briggs is a resident of Temecula, Calif., but he grew up in Kailua, where his parents still live.

One of his fondest food memories is of Andy's Drive-Inn, a Kailua institution for 42 years. It closed in 1999, when owner Ben Lum retired.

"They had 'da best' of a lot of things, including their macaroni salad, and the red and yellow sauces they used on their burgers," Briggs recalls fondly,

In fact, when Briggs got married in 1993, he and his bride wanted to serve Andy's mac salad at their reception.

"It took many calls before a manager at least broke down and gave me the ingredients they used, to make something like 50 pounds at a time. I've since then broken this down. ... Though it may not be exactly the same, it is close enough."

To cut to the chase, he may have satisfied his mac-salad yearnings, but Briggs is after those hamburger sauces. "On my visits home, when Andy's was still open, I would even go there the last day of my trip, with two small empty glass jars (one for the red sauce, and one for the yellow), for which they would charge me like $1.50 each."

OK, so anything that inspires that much devotion has got to be way better than ketchup and mustard. Who has a clue? Point me to the recipe, or to someone who might have it, and there's a cookbook in it for you as a finder's fee.

That's the part where Briggs gets a little, supposing that we get lucky with a recipe. Here, he gives a little: the Andy's-like recipe that he developed:

Macaroni Salad

8 ounces elbow macaroni
2 cups Best Foods mayonnaise
1/3 bunch parsley (no stems)
1 large carrot, peeled and cut in chunks
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon pickle relish
1/8 teaspoon salt

Cook macaroni, drain and dry (pasta must be dry for best results).

Use food processor to finely mince parsley and carrots.

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate at least two hours.

Taste and add additional salt and pepper if needed. Serves 10.

Approximate nutritional analysis, per serving: 410 calories, 36 g total fat, 5 g saturated fat, 15 mg cholesterol, 300 mg sodium, 17 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 1 g sugar, 3 g protein.