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French Dressing-No. 2
Rub the inside of a bowl with onion. Mix 1/2 teaspoonful of pepper and 1 teaspoonful of salt with 3 tablespoonfuls of salad-oil, and slowly add 1 tablespoonful of vinegar. Beat well, then add 3 more tablespoonfuls of the oil, and another tablespoonful of vinegar. Continue beating until the oil and vinegar are well mixed and the dressing is of a creamy appearance. Use the dressing as soon as it is mixed, as the parts separate quickly.
A plain oil-and-vinegar dressing built in stages so it thickens temporarily. The whole point is the order of additions and the immediate use.
- The hingeAdd the vinegar slowly into the seasoned oil while beating, not the reverse. Dumping both in at once gives a thin, separated dressing that never reaches the creamy stage described.
- ProportionsSix tablespoons oil to two of vinegar is a 3:1 ratio, the same proportion still standard for a vinaigrette. If your vinegar is stronger than the usual 5 percent, taste before serving and consider a fraction less.
- Salad-oilIn this period the term covered both olive oil and the cheaper refined seed oils, cottonseed among them; the recipe does not specify. A neutral oil gives a lighter result, a fruity olive oil a heavier, more assertive dressing.
- Salt levelA full teaspoon of salt in eight tablespoons of dressing is generous. Coarse kosher salt measures less by volume than the fine table salt assumed here, so adjust rather than measure blindly.
- Rubbing the bowl with onionCut a peeled onion in half and wipe the cut face round the inside of the bowl. It leaves a trace of aroma only; for a stronger onion note, grate a little in and strain it out before serving.
- Why it separatesThere is no emulsifier here, so the creaminess is mechanical and short-lived. A little mustard, or a shake in a sealed jar just before serving, will hold it together longer if you need to make it ahead.
- YieldAbout half a cup, enough for a salad for four to six. Toss the greens at the table, dry, and only when you are ready to eat.