Ranch Dressing: Is there anything it can’t do?

It’s great on salads. Makes crudites cooler. It flavors chips, Chex Mix, [tuna salad]( even [soda](. True connoisseurs have been known to drizzle it on spaghetti or pizza. One brave soul even [tested it]( on Cinnamon Toast Crunch and declared it a culinary masterpiece. Ranch has reigned supreme over the American salad dressing and condiment scene since the 1980s, [officially taking the crown]( from Italian dressing in 1992 and refusing to budge from the throne ever since. Haters might dismiss it as [“what’s wrong with America,”]( but chefs are [starting to play with it](. The true wonder of ranch is not just the breadth of its appeal, but the depth of its utility. To fans it manages to be all things—a dressing, dip, condiment, sauce, and flavor in its own right. What’s at the heart of this creamy love affair? Let’s dip in. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( [Quartz Obsession] Ranch dressing August 30, 2019 A true Renaissance dip --------------------------------------------------------------- It’s great on salads. Makes crudites cooler. It flavors chips, Chex Mix, [tuna salad]( even [soda](. True connoisseurs have been known to drizzle it on spaghetti or pizza. One brave soul even [tested it]( on Cinnamon Toast Crunch and declared it a culinary masterpiece. Ranch has reigned supreme over the American salad dressing and condiment scene since the 1980s, [officially taking the crown]( from Italian dressing in 1992 and refusing to budge from the throne ever since. Haters might dismiss it as [“what’s wrong with America,”]( but chefs are [starting to play with it](. The true wonder of ranch is not just the breadth of its appeal, but the depth of its utility. To fans it manages to be all things—a dressing, dip, condiment, sauce, and flavor in its own right. What’s at the heart of this creamy love affair? Let’s dip in. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( Giphy Timeline [1954:]( Steve and Gayle Henson purchase a rustic dude ranch in Southern California and welcome guests for fishing, hiking, riding, and hearty meals, including Henson’s homemade salad dressing, made from a recipe he had tinkered with for years. [1972:]( The Hensons sell the Hidden Valley Ranch brand to Clorox for $8 million. [1983:]( Bottled ranch arrives on grocery store shelves. [1987:]( Cool Ranch Doritos make their debut. [1992:]( Ranch surpasses Italian as America’s favorite salad dressing, a distinction it has held ever since. [1994:]( Domino’s adds chicken wings to its menu, serving each order with a side of ranch, which many customers use for dipping pizza crusts. [2017:]( Hidden Valley products make more than [$450 million](. [2019:]( A man threatens restaurant staff in Sterling Heights, Michigan, when they run out of ranch dressing. Quotable “What exactly are the ingredients of Ranch dressing? Mayo and disappointment?” —[Jim Gaffigan]( Reuters/Mike Blake Origin story Shelf stability --------------------------------------------------------------- Hidden Valley wasn’t an instant widespread success when Clorox purchased the recipe. The dressing needed a food science assist to go from a powdered mix to a bottle because its dairy base spoiled quickly. Food scientist Samson Hsia told Malcolm Gladwell that the Hensons’ recipe, which used equal parts mayo and buttermilk, was “[by all accounts, an extraordinary dressing]( That combination proved difficult to replicate in a shelf-stable bottle—to get the texture right the acidity had to be increased to levels that just didn’t taste quite right. Hsia said that the team worked on the formula for nearly a decade without achieving perfection, finally settling for good enough. Consumers seem not to mind. Fun fact! [Hidden Valley Ranch doesn’t even bother marketing]( outside of the US, which may be part of the reason the rest of the world doesn’t share the same unfettered enthusiasm. If you do find ranch in European supermarkets, it’s often [labeled “American dressing.”]( and the blue bag of Doritos goes by “Cool American” instead of Cool Ranch. Reuters/Finbarr O'Reilly Pop quiz Model and foodie Chrissy Teigen believes what restaurant chain has the best ranch dressing? Outback SteakhouseT.G.I. Friday’sRed RobinChili’s Correct. In an interview with Grub Street, Teigen said that Red Robin once declined to hire her—but, “They still, to this day, have the best ranch dressing, and you can quote me on that one.” Incorrect. If your inbox doesn’t support this quiz, find the solution at bottom of email. Reuters/John Gress By the digits [40%:]( Share of Americans who reach for ranch first [9 million:]( Americans who go through three or more bottles of Hidden Valley Ranch in a year [33:]( Varieties of ranch dressing at Twisted Ranch, a restaurant in St. Louis, Missouri [150 days:]( Approximate shelf life of an unopened bottle of ranch dressing [5:]( Liters in a ranch dressing “mini-keg” sold for $50 in 2017 [$1,000:]( Price for a side of ranch dressing at Texas pizzeria Cane Rosso [$45:]( Price of a polyester shirt printed with bottles of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing and slices of pizza [8,000:]( Bottles of ranch spilled on I-70 due to a semi-truck crash in Maryland in 2019 [100%:]( More ranch sold to US foodservice outlets than blue cheese, the second most popular dressing Have a friend who would enjoy our Obsession with Ranch dressing? [ [Forward link to a friend](mailto:?subject=Thought you'd enjoy.&body=Read this Quartz Obsession email – to the email – Million-dollar question What’s wrong with loving ranch dressing? --------------------------------------------------------------- Not everyone hates ranch dressing. Restaurateur and Top Chef champion Stephanie Izard [told GQ]( she puts it on “everything, but my favorite is french fries.” Katy Smith, a protege of Rick Bayless, [confessed to Food & Wine]( that she has it in her fridge. (It may not be a coincidence that both cut their teeth in Chicago, in the [Great Lakes ranch dressing belt]( And as [Grub Street]( and the [New York Times]( have noticed, chefs have started to put it on the menu in recent years. If you want to see what the original tasted like at the real Hidden Valley, Julia Moskin [recreated the recipe](. Bon Appetit’s Amiel Stanek gives a [similar foundation with infinite variations](. Or you can try [“white sauce,”]( a regionally-famous variation found in Mexican restaurants around Hampton Roads, Virginia: “a little like ranch dressing, except fuming with garlic and spice.” It has a ranch-like base of milk, mayo, dried oregano, and garlic powder, but with the added kick of cumin and crushed red pepper. Giphy Watch this! SNL + HVR --------------------------------------------------------------- Even if you pour ranch over your breakfast cereal every morning, you’re no match for the uber-fan Melissa McCarthy plays in this SNL skit about an “HVR”-obsessed taste-tester. Reuters/Chris Helgren Historical Trends Other “It” salad dressings --------------------------------------------------------------- 🌿 Green Goddess: This creamy, anchovy-infused dressing was[invented]( at San Francisco’s Palace Hotel in the 1920s. The hotel’s head chef, Philip Roemer, created the dressing in honor of George Arliss, an actor who took up residency at the hotel while performing in a play called The Green Goddess. 🐟 Caesar: During the 1920s and 1930s, the Hollywood elite frequently traveled to Tijuana to imbibe booze that was banned in the US. [As legend has it]( Caesar’s Restaurante-Bar ran out of ingredients on a particularly busy Fourth of July, so the owner whipped up a dish with [what he had on hand]( romaine lettuce, raw egg yolks, Parmesan, olive oil, anchovies, white wine, vinegar, and spices. Soon, celebs like Jean Harlow and Clark Gable were coming to Mexico just to dine on Chef Caesar Cardini’s delicious creation. By the 1940s, the trend had gone nationwide, thanks in part to Cardini’s move to L.A. “It was a sensation of a salad from coast to coast,” Julia Child—who dined there as a child—once wrote. 🏝 Thousand Island: Its early-1900s origins are a little murky; it was [either created by the chef onboard the yacht]( belonging to Waldorf-Astoria owner George Boldt, [or the innkeeper of the Herald Hotel](. Either way, the dressing can be traced to somewhere along the St. Lawrence River, which is where it gets its name: the Thousand Islands region between New York state and Canada. It came back into vogue when a version of it was plopped atop McDonald’s Big Mac [in 1967](. take me down this 🐰 hole! While Kirsten Gillibrand was stumping at an Iowa City bar early in 2019, a patron stole the show when she shoved past the senator to get some ranch. The [Ranch Girl]( moment went viral, and an Iowa t-shirt company made a “[Just Trying to Get Some Ranch]( t-shirt. Fellow Democratic candidate Pete Buttigieg, meanwhile, [picked up a taste for a salsa-ranch dressing blend]( in his hometown of South Bend, Indiana. Giphy Poll What’s your ranch stance? [Click here to vote]( I put it on anything and everything.I put it on salads and veggies.I put it on nothing. Gross. The fine print In yesterday’s poll about the [English Channel]( 51% of you said “I’ll stick to taking the TGV through the Chunnel, thanks.” Just 19% of you want to swim it. 🤔 [What did you think of today’s email?](mailto:obsession%2Bfeedback@qz.com?cc=&subject=Thoughts%20about%20ranch%20dressing&body=) 💡 [What should we obsess over next?](mailto:obsession%2Bideas@qz.com?cc=&subject=Obsess%20over%20this%20next.&body=) 🎲 [Show me a random Obsession]( Today’s email was written by [Stacy Conradt]( edited by [Whet Moser]( and produced by [Luiz Romero](. The correct answer to the quiz is Red Robin. Enjoying the Quartz Obsession? [Send this link]( to a friend! 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