12 votes

Ranch Nation: How one creamy, peppery salad dressing became America’s favorite flavor

8 comments

  1. [3]
    EscReality
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    Seriously, in the ten(ish) years I have worked as a Sous ranch has become the condiment of choice. My brewery is in a pretty rural Colorado town (about 2-3k) that does see some tourist traffic. We...

    Seriously, in the ten(ish) years I have worked as a Sous ranch has become the condiment of choice. My brewery is in a pretty rural Colorado town (about 2-3k) that does see some tourist traffic. We make our ranch from scratch and go through about five gallons a week, ten gallons during hunting and ski season. We also make a Chipotle Ranch and occasionally a Sriracha Ranch on top of that (not to mention most other common dressings).

    One of my old Chefs back when I was in a culinary apprenticeship used to refer to it exclusively as "fat guy ketchup". I don't know why but I have always found that hilarious (probably because I am a large guy that loves ranch on everything).

    7 votes
    1. [2]
      spit-evil-olive-tips
      Link Parent
      When I worked dish & prep in a BBQ restaurant, the "BBQ ranch" was by far our most popular condiment. Just Sysco ranch mixed with our own BBQ sauce, but it was damn tasty. Especially on some fried...

      When I worked dish & prep in a BBQ restaurant, the "BBQ ranch" was by far our most popular condiment. Just Sysco ranch mixed with our own BBQ sauce, but it was damn tasty. Especially on some fried pickles.

      This also reminds me of making cole slaw dressing at that place, and that was fully house-made. Started by squeezing a bag full of mayo into a 5-gal bucket, adding everything else, then working it over with an immersion blender that was a solid 4 or 5 feet long.

      3 votes
      1. EscReality
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        There is a lot to be said for products made by Sysco. Some of their stuff is amazing, some not so much. We scratch make everything though, I wouldn't have it anyother way.

        There is a lot to be said for products made by Sysco. Some of their stuff is amazing, some not so much.

        We scratch make everything though, I wouldn't have it anyother way.

        1 vote
  2. [5]
    Comment deleted by author
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    1. spit-evil-olive-tips
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      Reminds me of that thing about how much more likely people were to change their minds to support marriage equality if they knew an actual gay person. Some pad thai or ma po tofu will make a...

      literally zero people will bash on tofu when they're eating a bomb-ass pad thai.

      Reminds me of that thing about how much more likely people were to change their minds to support marriage equality if they knew an actual gay person. Some pad thai or ma po tofu will make a believer out of anyone.

      food is awesome, and i really like this post. thanks op.

      Glad you enjoyed it! If I see any more like this I'll be sure to post them.

      2 votes
    2. [3]
      EscReality
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      Coming from a culinary perspective, if its not made with buttermilk by definition it's not actually ranch.

      Coming from a culinary perspective, if its not made with buttermilk by definition it's not actually ranch.

      1 vote
      1. [3]
        Comment deleted by author
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        1. [2]
          EscReality
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          Oh, I do not doubt that. I just take issue with the procreation of culinary terms into items that are not actually said term. Don't get me started on Aiolis. =)

          Oh, I do not doubt that.

          I just take issue with the procreation of culinary terms into items that are not actually said term. Don't get me started on Aiolis.

          =)

          2 votes
          1. [2]
            Comment deleted by author
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            1. EscReality
              Link Parent
              Ok, but I warned you. So, the issue is people making Aioli out of mayonnaise. They are similar products, both being emulsifications, but not the same. An Aioli is an emulsification of Olive oil,...

              Ok, but I warned you.

              So, the issue is people making Aioli out of mayonnaise. They are similar products, both being emulsifications, but not the same.

              An Aioli is an emulsification of Olive oil, Garlic (lots) and Salt. It does not include egg or acid (like lemon), it only uses olive oil and is defined by its binding agent, the garlic. It does not include any other base ingredients, adding things like egg or acid make it not Aioli and are unnecessary because the acid from the garlic is the binding agent.

              Mayonnaise is an emulsification of vegetable oil, egg and acid (vinegar or citrus). Mayo is also set apart by its unique binding agent, egg. Obviously you know there are vegan mayos out there, mayo is extremely hard and near impossible to replicate without the egg. Mayonnaise's consistency tends to be thicker, lighter in color and smoother than an Aioli.

              In the last ten years or so, trendy restaurants around the world have started mixing random ingredients into mayo and calling it Aioli. So much so, that it has actually started to change the legal definition of what an Aioli actually is. Most in the culinary world go off of the traditional Catalan ingredients and would consider nothing else an Aioli.

              The problem is that it sounds better to call something Sriracha Aioli over actually saying Sriracha Mayonnaise. And it's far easier to just take some mayo and add stuff to it than it is to make an emulsification from scratch.

              Its similar to the Ranch thing and yes I know very nit picky, but it's stuff like this that keep Chefs up at night.

              When you make a similar product, with completely different ingredients, how can you possibly call it the same product? You have used different ingredients and by definition made a completely different thing.

              1 vote
  3. annadane
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    This post totally not sponsored by Ranch.

    This post totally not sponsored by Ranch.

    4 votes