Recipes: Salad Dressings from Around the World

Italian Salad Dressing
Extra virgin olive oil, Salt, Choice quality red vinegar, Crushed black peppercorns, 1 tsp chopped parsley, 1/8 tsp chopped garlic. Marcella Hazan advises, “The salad course is dressed at the table…First, put in the salt…give the salad one quick toss to distribute the salt…Then pour in the oil…there should be enough of it to produce a gloss on the surface of the vegetables… add the vinegar last as soon as you put in the vinegar, begin to toss. Toss gently to avoid bruising the greens. (Some recipes use mint, etc., as a change. “ Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking



African Peanut Salad Dressing1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup peanut oil
Juice of 1 lemon
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 tsp ground red pepper
Salt & ground black pepper

Combine the ingredients, add salt and pepper to taste and mix well. (African Cooking [Time-Life]

Good Herbal Cook: Blends, Pastes, Powders

Herbes de Provence Dried herb mixUse for stews, soups: slow cooking
Basil, Savory, Fennel, Lavender, Thyme.

Bouquet Garni: Fresh or Dried, Tied. Use for stews and soups. Put in pot, remove before serving Select from: Thyme, Bay Leaves, Basil, Burnet, Chervil, Rosemary, Peppercorns, Savory, Tarragon

Fines Herbes: Minced herbs, fresh. Use at the last minuteParsley, Chervil, Tarragon &
Chives

Madras style Curry Powder¼ cup coriander seeds
2 tbsp brown mustard seeds
2 tbsp ground turmeric
1 tbsp fenugreek seeds
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp red chile flakes
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cassia cinnamon
1 tsp cardamom seeds (pods)
Combine all ingredients and grind in a coffee grinder. Makes ¾ cup.

Tony Hill, Owner, World Spice Merchants and author,The Spice Lover’s Guide to Herbs and Spices notes, “This is relatively complex and is closest to a “reference” curry powder for Western tastes. In India, there are not premixed powders, the cooks make a curry for the particular dish on the fly.”
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