Making Vinaigrette - So Easy and Rewarding
It’s amazing to read sometimes what culinary authors define as “simple”. Richard Olney in his book, Simple French Food, describes a fish terrine as uncomplicated in execution despite requiring the following: a fish fumet, forcemeat, duxelles, panade, fish jelly, and whipped tomato cream – using preserved tomatoes. But there are some food items that are always worth making from scratch, both because they are legitimately easy and because the home variety is so much better than store bought. One example is vinaigrette.
Vinaigrette is a simple mixture of three components - oil, (olive, canola), an acidic liquid (vinegar, citrus juice), and seasonings (salt, mustard). It requires minimal equipment to make; you use either a small bowl and whisk, or a jar with a lid on it. You can use a wide variety of oils, liquids, and seasonings.
The alternative to vinaigrette – bottled salad dressing – pales in comparison for three reasons. There’s no flexibility to match the ingredients in the vinaigrette to the base dish. You can not adjust for personal taste – one bottle fits all, whereas with homemade vinaigrette each family member can have it their way. Finally, with bottled dressing you’re paying a lot of money for often inferior ingredients. Since vinaigrettes are used so miserly, splurging on expensive oils, vinegars, etc. can be regarded as frugal.
Culinary science defines a vinaigrette as a temporary emulsion, i.e. a forced combination of two elements - oil and water - that normally hate each other, (vinegar and fruit juices are largely water). To get these two opponents to become affectionate, you need mechanical action, like vigorous whisking, plus an emulsifying agent. The acidity in vinegar or citrus juice helps emulsify, but for more stability, there are some foods that act as emulsifying agents and add flavor to boot, e.g. mustard, onions, garlic.
Once you understand the basic science, making vinaigrette is simple. In a small bowl or jar, add vinegar or fruit juice or even water or bouillon. Add salt and pepper; it is especially important to add the salt now, as salt will dissolve in acid, but not in oil. Add any additional flavoring elements like garlic or mustard. Whisk or shake to combine. You can then add the oil slowly to the bowl while whisking vigorously, or add the oil all at once into the jar and then shake, with the cap tightly closed. For the most stable dressing possible, use cold ingredients.
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