The Food and Drug Administration recently announced it would no longer regulate the standards for French salad dressing. Those standards required certain ingredients. As it turns out, French dressing was a name given to variations of a vinaigrette dressing. Over the years, several flavorings, such as ketchup, tabasco sauce and Worcestershire sauce were added, and it became a creamy dressing. All those changes apparently happened in the United States, not France, so French dressing is essentially an American dressing. So are several other popular salad dressings. I have a list of four salad dressings and four places where they are said to have been developed. See if you can match them correctly. The dressings are Italian, ranch, Thousand Island and Russian. The locations are Alaska, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New York.
Answer:
The exact history of French dressing we know is American and exactly where it changed from a simple vinaigrette is unclear. French dressing is the oldest one on our list, but vinegar and oil dressing goes back nearly two-thousand years to ancient Babylonia. The Italian dressing we know is said to have been developed by the wife of a restaurant owner in Framingham, Massachusetts in 1941. That was Ken's Steakhouse, and Ken's salad dressing began there. Seven years later in 1948, the Wishbone Restaurant in Kansas City introduced its version of Italian dressing and began selling Wishbone dressing.
Ranch dressing was the creation in 1949 of Nebraska native Steve Henson, who fed it to the crew of his plumbing company in Anchorage, Alaska. When Henson retired, he bought a ranch in Santa Barbara County, California and decided to run a restaurant, changing the name of his Sweetwater Ranch to Hidden Valley Ranch. After the dressing became popular at the restaurant, Henson sold it to customers and later marketed it to grocery stores. Ranch has been the best-selling salad dressing in the United States since 1992, when it passed Italian
There are several versions of how Thousand Island dressing was created, but all the versions say it took place in upstate New York in the Thousand Islands region along the upper St. Lawrence River. And Russian dressing, basically a variation of French dressing, is said to have been developed in the 1910's in Nashua, New Hampshire. It was called Russian because the original recipe included caviar.
A couple of other salad dressings have interesting beginnings. Caesar salad and Caesar dressing are not named for Julius Caesar, but Caesar Cardini, an Italian restaurant worker who settled in California. Cardini wanted to open his own restaurant. but Prohibition had just begun and by eliminating alcoholic drinks, it was taking a toll on the restaurant business. Cardini decided to move to Mexico, where he could serve alcohol, and that's where the Caesar salad and its dressing debuted.
Green Goddess dressing also traces its history to California. Most sources say it was created in San Francisco in 1923 to honor actor George Arliss and his hit play, "The Green Goddess". The chef at the city's Palace Hotel created a dressing of anchovies, scallions, parsley, tarragon, mayonnaise, tarragon vinegar, and chives. It's actually a variation of a dressing originated in France by a chef to Louis XIII who made a green sauce that was traditionally served with eel.
FAQs
The Babylonians used oil and vinegar for dressing greens nearly 2,000 years ago. The original Caesar salad recipe did not contain pieces of anchovy; the slight anchovy flavor comes from the Worcestershire sauce. Ceasar Cardini, the original creator of the salad, was opposed to using anchovies in his salad.
Where did salad dressing originate? ›
The Babylonians used oil and vinegar for dressing greens nearly 2,000 years ago. Egyptians favored a salad dressed with oil, vinegar and Asian spices. Mayonnaise is said to have made its debut at a French Nobleman's table over 200 years ago.
Where did the Hidden Valley Ranch come from? ›
HIDDEN VALLEY RANCH STARTED IN 1954
That's when Steve Henson and his wife, Gayle, purchased 120 acres of sprawling land nestled in the mountains outside of Santa Barbara, California, and started a dude ranch.
Where does 1000 island dressing come from? ›
The original recipe can mostly be traced back to the early 1900s in Thousand Islands, New York, where the tangy pinkish condiment got its namesake.
What is the most requested salad dressing? ›
The ranch is hands down America's most beloved salad dressings. It is made from a number of ingredients such as buttermilk, mayonnaise, mustard, garlic, onion, chives, salt, and pepper.
What is the most popular salad dressing in the United States per study? ›
Ranch dressing is the most popular salad dressing in the USA due to its creamy texture, tangy buttermilk base, and blend of herbs and spices like garlic, onion, dill, and parsley.
What do they call salad dressing in England? ›
Salad cream is a UK condiment with a creamy-yet-tangy taste. The tangyness comes from vinegar. It works particularly well with crunchy salads and meat, cheese or tuna sandwiches.
Where did Ken's salad dressing come from? ›
It all started in the basem*nt of Ken's Steakhouse in Framingham, Massachusetts eight decades ago. What began as a single beloved family recipe is now a thriving business with hundreds of flavors sold nationwide. Ken's is still run by the same flavor-obsessed family.
Where is the birthplace of salad? ›
Ancient Roots:
The ancient Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans were known to consume mixed greens with a combination of salt, oil and vinegar. These early salads were often made with ingredients like lettuce, celery, radishes, and onions, which were considered beneficial for digestion and overall health.
What was the first ranch dressing? ›
Ranch dressing was created in 1949 by a plumber-turned-cowboy. While working as a contract plumber in Alaska, Steve Henson started cooking for his coworkers and perfecting his buttermilk dressing recipe. Five years later he moved to California with his wife Gayle and bought a ranch.
Commercialization. Manufacturing of the mix was later moved to San Jose, then Colorado, and then to Sparks, Nevada, in 1972. In October 1972, the Hidden Valley Ranch brand was bought by Clorox for $8 million, and Henson retired.
Is Thousand Island just ketchup and mayo? ›
Thousand Island dressing is an American salad dressing and condiment based on mayonnaise and usually ketchup or tomato purée and chopped pickles; it can also include lemon juice, orange juice, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, vinegar, cream, chili sauce, olive oil, and Tabasco sauce.
Where does French dressing come from? ›
Big, bold French dressing actually comes from Pittsburgh and not its namesake European country — it was invented in 1925 as Kraft's very first pourable dressing flavor. While the store-bought variety can sometimes be too cloying, this homemade version has just the right amount of sour to balance out the sweet.
What is a fun fact about salads? ›
The term “salad” comes from the Latin word for salt (“sal”). In Roman times, salads consisted largely of salted vegetables glazed with an oil and vinegar dressing. Thus the salt. The French eventually coined the term “salade” which is where we got it.
Why is salad dressing called dressing? ›
The verb dress has been used since at least the 1300s to mean to prepare a food for cooking, often especially a bird (or other meat). It can also mean to season a dish, leading to the sense of the noun dressing that's used in the term salad dressing.
What is a salad dressing also known as? ›
A vinaigrette could make a nice marinade for meat, but even if it had the exact same ingredients, it would be referred to as a marinade. And a light, lemony sauce for chicken might also be nice drizzled over a bowl of mixed greens. But it would also be called by how it is being used-Salad dressing.
What is the importance of dressing in a salad? ›
Adding salad dressing to a salad increases the absorption of certain nutrients being consumed. The fat in dressings can help absorb key nutrients such as lycopene (a plant nutrient with antioxidant properties) and alpha/beta carotene (precursors of vitamin A).
