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French Dressing
1 tablespoonful of vinegar 3 tablespoonfuls of olive oil ½ teaspoonful of salt 1/4 teaspoonful of black pepper Put the salt and pepper in a bowl, add gradually the oil, rub and mix until the salt is thoroughly dissolved; then add by degrees the vinegar, stir continually for one minute, and it is ready to use.
Tarragon vinegar may be used for this dressing instead of plain vinegar.
A plain vinaigrette in the classic three-to-one proportion, made by hand in the bowl it will dress from. Two things in the original need a second look: the salt, and the order of mixing.
- The salt is highA tablespoon of vinegar and three of oil make roughly a quarter cup of dressing; 1½ teaspoons of salt in that volume is aggressively salty by current taste and may well be a printer's slip for ½. Start with ¼ to ½ teaspoon and correct at the end.
- Salt dissolves in the vinegar, not the oilThe instruction to rub salt into oil until dissolved cannot quite happen — salt is not soluble in fat. If you want it fully dissolved, put the salt and pepper in the vinegar first, then beat in the oil; the result is the same seasoning with none of the grit.
- Yield and servingAbout ¼ cup, enough for a head of lettuce or four modest side salads. Double or triple it freely; the proportions hold.
- It will separateThere is no mustard, egg or other emulsifier here, so the dressing breaks within a minute or two of standing. Mix it immediately before serving, or whisk again at the table.
- Olive oil then and nowOlive oil in American recipes of this period was commonly sold as "sweet oil," and was generally milder than a robust modern extra-virgin, which will dominate a delicate lettuce; choose something gentle unless the salad has strong flavors to stand up to it.
- Vinegar strengthHousehold vinegar of the period varied; modern cider or white wine vinegar at 5 percent acidity works directly in the given proportion. Tarragon vinegar, as suggested, is worth making by steeping a few sprigs in white wine vinegar for a week.
- PepperGrind it fresh and coarsely. Long pre-ground black pepper contributes little beyond color.
"French dressing" in an American cookbook of this era means simply a vinaigrette — oil, vinegar, salt, pepper — and nothing like the sweetened orange-red bottled product that later claimed the name in the United States. The three-to-one ratio is a standard French proportion, and such dressings were generally expected to be assembled shortly before serving rather than stored. Tarragon vinegar was a common genteel variation, tarragon being closely associated with French cookery in Anglo-American kitchens of the late nineteenth century.