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Whipped Cream Dressing
Mix together 3 tablespoonfuls of grated horseradish, 2 tablespoonfuls of lemon juice, 1 tablespoonful of tarragon vinegar, 1 teaspoonful of salt, 1/2 teaspoonful each of sugar and mustard, and a dash of cayenne pepper. When ready to serve, add 1 cupful of cream that has been whipped very stiff.
A horseradish cream, unsweetened and sharp, meant to be folded together at the last moment. The hinge is the order of operations: the acid and salt go into the cream only when the dish is going to the table, or the whipped cream slackens.
- Fold, do not stirWhip the cream to stiff peaks in a separate bowl, then fold the seasoned horseradish mixture into it with a spatula. Beating the lemon juice and vinegar into the cream while whipping will thin it and it will not recover.
- Cream that will whip"Cream" here means heavy or whipping cream, roughly 30 to 36 percent butterfat or better. Half-and-half and ultra-pasteurised light cream will not hold stiff peaks. One cup of cream yields roughly two cups whipped.
- Mustard means dry mustardThe half teaspoonful of mustard is most likely dry mustard powder rather than prepared mustard. Prepared mustard adds its own vinegar and would change the balance.
- HorseradishThree tablespoonfuls of grated horseradish means fresh-grated root. Bottled prepared horseradish is packed in vinegar and is milder; drain it well and consider cutting the tarragon vinegar back if you use it.
- Tarragon vinegarStill sold, and worth seeking out; it carries a distinct anise note that plain white wine vinegar does not. White wine vinegar with a bruised tarragon sprig steeped in it for an hour is a reasonable stand-in.
- Timing and holdingThe dressing holds perhaps thirty minutes before it begins to weep. Season the horseradish base ahead, refrigerate it, and fold in the cream just before serving.
- Yield and useTwo and a half cups or so once the base is folded in. It suits cold boiled beef, tongue, smoked fish or a beet and celery root salad rather than tender greens, which it would flatten.
Whipped cream dressings appear in American cookbooks from the 1890s into the 1930s. This particular version is essentially a horseradish sauce lightened with cream, a pairing generally traced to the cooking of Northern and Central Europe, where grated horseradish loosened with soured or sweet cream has long accompanied boiled beef and smoked fish. Such dressings reflect the period's broad reading of the word salad, which covered cold meats and cooked vegetables dressed at table as readily as it covered lettuce.