Yes, everybody makes basic cooking mistakes. Like, say, something as simple as overcooking mushrooms or toasting grains and spices. Below, reader Carol confesses her dressing woes to associate food editor Rick Martinez. Here’s Martinez's advice for making sure it never happens again. Welcome to Effed it Up.
Dear Rick,
Last time I made vinaigrette, it wouldn't emulsify for love nor money. I suspect the binding agent I used—an onion, mustard, and garlic spice blend from La Boîte à Epices—was too coarse. My vinegar to oil ratio was one to two. I even tried whisking, mixing, and industrial mixing, but that sucker just wouldn't emulsify. Bah! What went wrong here? Was there anything else I could've done?
Thanks,
Carol
Dear Carol,
I hope you skipped the gym that day. It sounds like you got quite a whisking workout from that broken vin.
But it also sounds to me like you didn't have enough surfactant in that vinaigrette. Sur...what? Allow me to explain: As you no doubt know, oil and water do not mix, and will eventually separate even after industrial mixing. A surfactant is the scientific name for an emulsifier, a.k.a. something that attracts both water and oil molecules and binds them together. These emulsifiers allow for the creation of a vinaigrette that is creamy and won't separate—truly a beautiful thing. But, in order for the vinaigrette, to "stay together," you have to have the right amount of an emulsifier.
Canal House Classic Vinaigrette. Photo: Hirsheimer & Hamilton
If you were to dress a salad with straight up oil and vinegar, the oil would cling to and coat the greens, while the vinegar would slide right off and puddle up in the bottom of the bowl. Each bite would be oily and flavorless...until the end when you would essentially have...pickled lettuce. The emulsion keeps the two together so that every bite of lettuce has the perfect amount of richness from the oil and kick from the acid.
The most common emulsifiers in your kitchen are likely egg yolks, mayonnaise, prepared mustard (preferably Dijon), honey, and tomato paste (though I'm not a fan of raw tomato paste, the flavor works quite well in a vinaigrette). For a more neutral flavor, use mayonnaise. I don't use yolks in my vinaigrettes (no, not because of the raw egg), because they will cause the vinaigrette to foam up; the residual bubbles will pretty much stay there, even after you dress your salad. Honey is doable, and it helps balance out acidity, but it's best application is as an additive to another primary emulsifier, such as Dijon. Think of it as more insurance against breaking.
Rick geeks out about surfactants—and now you do too. Photo: Rick Martinez
