Wyatt the Odd  | 17 Nov 2009 11:46 a.m. PST |
Just a random thought that came too early this morning. From my experience, if you're at a restaurant in the US and Canada, your choices for salad dressings are: Blue Cheese, Ranch (aka, "House") and Italian/Vinaigrette with the occasional additions of Russian/Catalina (tomato based) or Honey Mustard. Individual restaurants/chains might add another option, but those are the exceptions. I recall Blue Cheese being one of the options available when I was in France as was the Vinaigrette, and the latter was the primary choice in Italy but it don't recall what the "stock" options are elsewhere. Enlighten me. Wyatt |
| Space Monkey | 17 Nov 2009 1:02 p.m. PST |
Around here Thousand Island is a pretty common option… Honey Mustard being somewhat rare.
I've never run into anyone offering Green Goddess. |
| aecurtis | 17 Nov 2009 1:06 p.m. PST |
My experience in many European restaurants is that if one has a salad, it comes dressed: there is no choice. In both modest and fine restaurants, the salad is made from the best ingredients available in the market that day, and the dressing is likewise impromptu: if there's leftover cheese, it may contain cheese, for example. I actually prefer (as you would suspect, Wyatt!) meals done along those lines. I am far past being just tired of the US steakhouse standard: onion blossom with ranch, iceberg salad with blue cheese, oversized steak, fries or a baked 'tater with butter and sour cream: all lovely once in a great while, but a steady diet of waddling out after a 3000-calorie meal takes its toll in lots of ways. Sorry: heading for a rant there… Allen |
 lewis cannon  | 17 Nov 2009 1:11 p.m. PST |
I order Roquefort but will settle for blue cheese. |
| Photonred | 17 Nov 2009 1:25 p.m. PST |
I can't stand the taste of any of the blue cheeses |
| nycjadie | 17 Nov 2009 3:16 p.m. PST |
I usually order a balsamic vinaigrette. As for European salads, I find them hit or miss. It's impossible to find a salad in Spain, and when you do, it's an iceburg monstrosity covered with egg and ham. In the U.K., they are pretty bad. In France, they can be pretty rich. Italy has great salads, but low on the bold flavors favored by Americans. Australia has great salads. I recall taking an Italian client out to a Latin restaurant in New York. She was appalled at the bold flavors on the menu, as if that were a bad thing! |
| pmwalt | 17 Nov 2009 5:34 p.m. PST |
I'm with nycjadie as my favorite is a balsamic vinagiratte dressing… The salad my wife prepares normally has plenty of other chopped and slice veggies which add some real flavor. Love tomatoes in any salad except a Caesar. |
| StarfuryXL5 | 17 Nov 2009 6:54 p.m. PST |
It seems that many restaurants charge extra for bleu cheese dressing, ranging from from 25¢ to 75¢. What's so special about it? Anybody else have this happen? Parmesan peppercorn is another common offering by me. |
| Jana Wang | 17 Nov 2009 9:12 p.m. PST |
It seems that many restaurants charge extra for bleu cheese dressing, ranging from from 25¢ to 75¢. What's so special about it? Anybody else have this happen? Even cheap blue cheese is expensive. Point Reyes is $17 USD a lb here. If they're using the real stuff, there's $1 USD – $2 USD just in crumbles on the average salad. Other dressings work out to pennies per serving. |
| pphalen | 18 Nov 2009 6:38 a.m. PST |
Sure, but how often do you even have a decent amount of Bleu cheese in the dressing? |
| stenicplus | 18 Nov 2009 7:42 a.m. PST |
It's impossible to find a salad in Spain, and when you do, it's an iceburg monstrosity covered with egg and ham. You sure you are ordering the right thing? ;) Certainly not my experience of Spain. I recall when we first went there ('74) my starter was usualy tomato juice as being an 8yr old I did not appreciate the starters menu consisting of yucky fish and 15 varieties of salad (I exaggerate but it felt like it at the time), Steve P |
| StarfuryXL5 | 18 Nov 2009 5:59 p.m. PST |
It's the luck of the draw. Sometimes I do have some nice chunks of bleu cheese, other times not. At least now I know why it costs extra. |
| Ditto Tango 2 1 | 22 Nov 2009 2:13 p.m. PST |
I seem to recall that what I call Italian dressing – garlic and little bits floating in vinegar and some kind of cream – was called by restaurants in London, French dressing – which here is sort of an orange colour with no little bits floating – when I was visiting in the UK – this was back in the mid-80s.
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Tim |
| charliemike | 22 Nov 2009 5:45 p.m. PST |
Well… in Italy the salad dressing is usually left to you: they bring you (or it's already on the table) oil, vinegar, salt and pepper, often also balsamic vinegar. Almost every bar at lunch serves also different kinds of salads (from the "octopus and potatoes" to the simplest "green salad") and if a particular dressing is required it will arrive with the salad, so you can decide how much of it to use. My preferred ones are the "green salad with tuna, mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and corn", "octopus and potatoes" (served warm), "green beans and garlic", "beans and onions", "potato salad" (boiled potatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, celery) and the "tomatoes salad" (only tomatoes with salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar and olive oil, sometimes I add Parmesan scales). Mmmmhhhh, I'm getting hungry :-)
Luciano |
