Vinaigrette
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Vinaigrette (/vɪnəˈɡrɛt/) is a mixture (emulsion) of oils, such as soybean oil, canola oil, olive oil, corn oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, peanut oil, grape seed oil, and vinegar, sometimes flavored with herbs, spices, and other ingredients. It is used most commonly as a salad dressing,[1] but also as a cold sauce or marinade.
Name
Vinaigrette is the diminutive form of the French “vinaigre”. It is often translated as “French dressing”, particularly in British English.[2][3] It was commonly known as "french dressing" in the 19th Century.[4]
Preparation
Vinaigrette generally consists of 3 parts of oil to 1 part of vinegar whisked into an emulsion. Salt and pepper are often added. Herbs and shallots are added, especially when it is used as a sauce for cooked vegetables, grains, and the like.[5] Sometimes mustard is used as an emulsifier.[2]
Varieties
Vinaigrette may be made with a variety of oils and vinegars. Olive oil and neutral vegetable oils are most common.
In northern France, it may be made with walnut oil and cider vinegar and used for Belgian endive salad.
In the United States, vinaigrettes may include a wide range of novelty additions such as lemons, truffles, raspberries, egg white, sugar, garlic and cherries. Cheese, often blue cheese, may also be added. Commercially bottled versions may include emulsifiers such as lecithin.
In Southeast Asia, rice bran oil and white vinegar are used as a foundation with fresh herbs, chili peppers, nuts, and lime juice.
Different vinegars, such as raspberry, create different flavourings, and lemon juice or alcohol, such as sherry, may be used instead of vinegar. Balsamic vinaigrette is made by adding a small amount of balsamic vinegar to a simple vinaigrette of olive oil and wine vinegar.
Uses
In classical French cuisine, a vinaigrette is used as a salad dressing, and, as a cold sauce, accompanies cold artichokes, asparagus, and leek.
Russian Vinaigrette
Vinaigrette (Винегрет) is also the name of a classic Russian salad. The salad consists of beet, pickled cucumber, potatoes, carrot, and onion. Other ingredients, such as green peas or sauerkraut, are sometimes also added.[6][7][8] Sunflower or canola oil is used as a dressing; there is no vinegar in Russian vinaigrette salad in spite of its name. [9]
Despite its widespread popularity in Russia, the root of its origins may be in German or Scandinavian cuisine. An English cookbook from 1845, for example, had a recipe for a herring salad made of herring, beet, potatoes, egg whites, and apples, with a dressing made of oil, vinegar, and sour cream.[10]
References
- ^ BBC Good Food
- ^ a b Byron, May Clarissa Gillington (1916). May Byron's vegetable book. London, England (UK): Hodder & Stoughton. p. 301. http://books.google.com/?id=ZTkEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA296&dq=Vinaigrette#v=onepage&q=Vinaigrette&f=false. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
- ^ French dressing The Food Timeline
- ^ Hale, Sarah J. (1857). Mrs. Hale's new cook book. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA): T. B. Peterson & Brothers. p. 295. http://books.google.com/?id=ZTkEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA296&dq=Vinaigrette#v=onepage&q=Vinaigrette&f=false. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
- ^ Larousse Gastronomique, s.v. cold sauces
- ^ Vinaigrette Recipe Russian Recipes
- ^ Vinaigrette Recipe Natasha's Kitchen
- ^ Vinaigrette Recipe Recipes Wiki
- ^ Vinegret - Russian Beet and Sauerkraut salad
- ^ Modern Cookery. 1845. http://www.seafoodfish.com/html/anexcellentherringsalad1845.html.
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