Afghan chutney (chatney)
Afghan coriander chatni is a sharp, hot herb sauce with garlic and vinegar. A 2008 Afghanistan manual records green or red pepper and optional walnut; heat and household versions vary.
Ranch dressing
ranch · ranch salad dressing
Ranch dressing is an American cultured-dairy dressing of buttermilk or sour cream and mayonnaise, seasoned with garlic, onion and dried herbs, and made either pourable or thick enough to dip.
What it is
Ranch dressing is a creamy, savoury dressing. Its base is a cultured dairy product, most often buttermilk, sometimes with sour cream, and it is commonly enriched with mayonnaise. Garlic, onion, dried herbs and salt give it its character, and the tang of the cultured dairy keeps it from tasting heavy.
The dressing can be made pourable for a green salad or thick enough to serve as a dip for vegetables and fried food. The research sources treat these as two formats of one family rather than separate dressings.
Sources for this section
Origin and the Hidden Valley story
The best-known origin story credits Steve Henson, a plumbing contractor who cooked for his crew in remote Alaska in the early 1950s and often made a buttermilk dressing that the men liked. He later moved to California, where the ranch he bought in 1954 gave its name to the dressing. The name Hidden Valley was attached to the mix that the Hensons sold by mail order.
The sources are not fully consistent on dates, on where Henson was born and on when the brand was sold to Clorox. The early 1950s and the 1954 California move are the most often cited dates.
Sources for this section
Making it
Cold blending is the method. Buttermilk or sour cream is combined with mayonnaise where used, then garlic, onion, herbs and salt are stirred in until smooth. Herbs are commonly dried, and the choice of herbs and the proportion of dairy change the result.
The cook sets the thickness by the amount of liquid dairy: less for a dip, more for a pourable dressing. The sources do not give a ratio, so the proportions are a matter of taste.
Sources for this section
Notes
The research catalogue lists ranch and blue cheese as related branches of cultured dairy dressing rather than aliases, and this record keeps them apart. No storage limit is established by the sources; a dairy dressing is perishable and should be kept cold.
Sources for this section
History
Most accounts credit Steve Henson, a plumbing contractor who developed a buttermilk herb dressing in the early 1950s while cooking for his crew in Alaska. In 1954 he and his wife, Gayle, bought a ranch above Santa Barbara, California, and named it Hidden Valley Ranch; the name then passed to the dressing. Mail-order sales of the packaged mix followed. Sources differ on Henson's birthplace, the ranch's purchase year and the year the brand was sold to Clorox, which is given as 1972 in one source and 1973 in another.
Ingredients
Scaling: quantities are not established by the research sources.
Buttermilk
Amount not stated
Cultured dairy base; quantity not givenSour cream (optional)
Amount not stated
Cultured dairy used in many versions; quantity not givenMayonnaise (optional)
Amount not stated
Often included; quantity not givenGarlic
Quantity not given
Onion
Quantity not given
Dried herbs
Amount not stated
The mix uses commonly available dried herbs; the herbs are not specifiedSalt
To taste
Method
- Combine the buttermilk or sour cream with the mayonnaise, if used, in a bowl.
- Stir in the garlic, onion, dried herbs and salt until the dressing is smooth and evenly flavoured.
- Adjust the thickness: keep it pourable for a salad dressing, or make it thicker for a dip. The sources do not give a liquid ratio.
Places
United States
Documented preparation · Country evidenceThe dressing is documented in the United States; the source does not place it in a single town.
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Sources
WikipediaHistory · Method
Ranch dressingRanch is a buttermilk and herb dressing with garlic, onion and dried herbs; dressing and dip formats differ.
Cited in: What it is; Origin and the Hidden Valley story; Making it; Notes
Mental FlossHistory
Ranch dressing food historySteve Henson developed the dressing in the early 1950s; the Hidden Valley Ranch name and the mail-order packaged mix; the brand's later sale.
Cited in: Origin and the Hidden Valley story