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Vinaigrette Sauce
Chop together very fine one shallot, two branches of parsley, and the same of chives and chervil; when all are well chopped, place them in a sauce-bowl, with one tablespoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of pepper, and three tablespoonfuls of vinegar. Stir all well together, then add four tablespoonfuls of good oil, mix well again, and serve. This is also called French dressing.
A cold sauce built in the serving bowl, with two things a modern cook should adjust: the salt and the vinegar-to-oil ratio.
- The salt is the one thing to changeA full tablespoon of salt to seven tablespoons of liquid is far beyond modern palates and will read as brine. Start with a scant half teaspoon and correct at the end; the same goes for the teaspoon of pepper, which is closer to a quarter teaspoon in current practice.
- RatioThree parts vinegar to four parts oil is sharper than the 1:3 that most cooks now use. It suits robust leaves, boiled beef, leeks or asparagus; for tender greens, hold the vinegar back to a tablespoon and taste.
- "Branches" of herbsA branch is a sprig, stem and all. Two sprigs each of parsley, chives and chervil is a modest amount, a teaspoon or two of chopped herb apiece once minced.
- ChervilRarely stocked and quick to wilt. Tarragon is the usual substitute for its faint anise note, used at about half the quantity; parsley alone will do without much loss.
- ShallotOne shallot here is likely a single small clove rather than a whole large bulb. Chop it as fine as possible and let it sit in the vinegar and salt for ten minutes before the oil goes in, which takes the raw edge off.
- "Good oil"Olive oil, most likely, though the recipe does not say which. There is no mustard or egg here, so the sauce will separate on standing; whisk or stir it again just before it goes to the table.
- YieldAbout half a cup, enough to dress a salad for four to six or to nap a platter of cold vegetables.
The name comes from vinaigre, French for vinegar, and the sauce is one of the oldest and plainest in the French repertoire: acid, oil, salt, and whatever green herbs the season offers. Oscar Tschirky's note that "this is also called French dressing" records a moment when the two terms were still interchangeable in American kitchens; the bottled, sweetened, tomato-tinted product that later claimed the name French dressing in the United States has nothing to do with this. The herbs here are parsley, chives, and chervil: Oscar was managing the dining rooms of the Waldorf when the book appeared in 1896, and the recipe assumes a cook who has all of them to hand at once.