Why do Americans Love Ranch Dressing?

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Ranch Dressing
Why do Americans love it so much?

Quote:

There is a great Simpsons episode in which Homer, overcome by carbon-monoxide fumes, hallucinates that he is an Ottoman sultan. Though he is surrounded by gyrating concubines, the Simpson family patriarch is not satisfied. "I grow weary of your sexually suggestive dancing," he says. "Bring me my ranch-dressing hose!" Within seconds, the women are blasting him with a geyser of gooey ranch.

Homer's tastes are meant to reflect those of the American everyman, and in this case the Simpsons writers nailed it: Ranch dressing has been the nation's best-selling salad topper since 1992, when it overtook Italian. How did this simple mixture of mayonnaise, buttermilk, and herbs become America's favorite way to liven up lettuce?

The Pizza and Ranch Dressing Rebellion

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Romano’s on West Gray has outlawed dipping pizza in ranch dressing. The pizzeria’s owners, two cousins named Frank and Vinny, were born in Calabria, Italy. They spent 15 years working in New York pizzerias before coming to Texas. The cousins pride themselves on making one of the best New York-style pizzas in Houston.

Where Frank and Vinny come from, dipping pizza in ranch dressing is not done. “It's a crime against nature,” railed New York food writer Ed Levine, author of Pizza: Slice of Heaven, when I e-mailed him about the pizza/ranch combination.

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Type: Discussion • Score: 13 • Views: 7,910 • Replies: 23

@Robert Gentel,

And for that matter why do Americans love these condiments so much?

Ketchup, BBQ sauce, ranch dressing.... Doesn't anyone want to know what the food tastes like?

In Brazil, they rail against the BBQ sauce. They like their meat barbecued with rock salt and to taste good on its own and used to always ask me why Americans like to "smear ketchup all over their meat".

I get both sides of the debate. I like me a carrot stick in ranch, in fact that's the only way I ever liked a carrot stick and didn't think it was possible till I moved to California (the land of ranch dipped in more ranch). But at the same time I don't get why you'd ruin a great meat with an overpowering sauce.

I love sauces, but still don't get the American fascination with them.

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@Robert Gentel,

I'm with the Brazilians on BBQ. The smoke should flavor the BBQ, not the sauce. Anything that requires sauce is either a) under smoked or b) too dry.

Bear will be along shortly to state that BBQ is pork with a glaze. Heathen.

And I despise ketchup for anything other than Freedom Fries.

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I prefer Marie's Blue Cheese Vinaigrette, especially on raw carrots.

Ranch dressing seems like a little kid thing to me, like beefaroni or something.

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Mmmm.. ranch dressing......

Still, my favorite condiment is mustard and I don't mean that fancy stuff -- the plain yellow stuff. I use it like most people use catsup.

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@DrewDad,

Good BBQ sauce is gift from the gods.
It does not disguise flavor, it enhances it.

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@George,

One of my best friends calls himself a BBQ sauce connoisseur, he even will eat it plain. And while it's certainly good on some kinds of BBQ (e.g. the Texas type) I can't see describing it as an enhancement, but a wholesale replacement.

I can't ever tell you if the meat is any good if there's BBQ sauce on it. But I can tell you if the sauce is good...

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To the best of my recollection, I have never used ranch dressing in my life. In fact, I don't use bottled dressings at all. I make my own. Simple recipe for basic Italian: measure out x number of tablespoons virgin olive oil, equal number teaspoons vinegar (not white vinegar, you barbarian! either wine or cider vinegar). Add a modicum dried oregano, a dash of garlic powder, a little basil if desired. Shake vigrously. Serve. Simple recipe for blue cheese dressing: equal amounts of maynnaise and dairy sour cream. Add adequate amount of crumbled bleu cheese. Stir vigorously.

I keep no ketchup in my pantry. I gues that makes me unamerican, but I can find no use for it except to flavor French fries. I virtually never prepare fries myself but do use katchup on them in restaurants. And the only mustard you'll find in my house is Dijon, the sharper the better. That yellow American stuff makes me nauseaus.

Feel free to throw tomatoes and rotten eggs at me. I'm agile and duck really well.

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@Robert Gentel,

My niece dips her pizza in ranch dressing. I had never seen that before...appalled really - Though I do like a small amount of ranch dressing every now and then

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@Robert Gentel,

Quote:

I can't ever tell you if the meat is any good if there's BBQ sauce on it. But I can tell you if the sauce is good...

I dunno. I've had some so-so meat and some good meat with the same sauce
and I could certainly tell the difference.

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@Merry Andrew,

You better DUCK Merry Andy..... Here comes a splop of RANCH Smile

I don't care much for the bottled- it will do if it is emergency... I make it from the original California packet with fresh milk and mayo. NOTHING ever tasted so good ; except a rare steak.... with nothing on it but sea salt and fresh ground pepper.
No ketchup for me.... I like my tomatoes FRESH - ( But I eat both Pizza sauce and spaghetti sauce at times)

( think you just have Gourmet tastes Andrew-----maybe you too Robert.)

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@George,

Quote:

Good BBQ sauce is gift from the gods.
It does not disguise flavor, it enhances it

Yea verily. We have many styles of bbq, and some even are based upon sauceless meat. However, to make it a national preference is somewhat limiting. I like many styles,Piedmont CArolina vinegar, sweet smoke, Memphis style, KC style, and even naked Texas BBQ. I like pork and beef. I dont like chicken cue, its merely grilled meat cause chicken dries out if slow cooked.

Ive eaten "bush meat" barbecued and found it passable, but would have been great if it had an accompanying sauce.

AS FAR AS RANCH DRESSING-I dont care for it at all, and as for ketchup, we mix it with fresh horseradish to dip raw clams and oysters in.

Sauces are like using profanitiy in speech. Too much is coarse.

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@theollady,

< ducks gracefully ?

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@Robert Gentel,

Maybe we like it because it is not quite bland but not have much taste. A little spicy compared to just plain mayonnaise which is what my mom used to dress a green salad most.

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@Robert Gentel,

Robert Gentel wrote:

I can't ever tell you if the meat is any good if there's BBQ sauce on it. But I can tell you if the sauce is good...

For me thats the point. I can take cheap, crappy meat, cook it myself (and I don't know crap about cooking) and throw on some barbeque sauce, and it's delicious. (As long as the sauce is delicious).

Otherwise, sometimes I am in the mood for good meat, sometimes I am in the mood for good barbecue.

I've heard ranch referred to as this generations ketchup, but I've never been a big ranch fan myself. That's mainly because I don't eat vegetables though (I'm a meatarian). I like ranch with hot wings, but that's about it. I don't eat ketchup that much either (just hamburgers and hot dogs). As for french fries, try dipping them in ice cream. Delicious.

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Barbecue is the very art of slow cooking so that the meat slides offn the bone, and theres a good crust on the meat.

However, even if you dont use a sauce, you must rub your meat. Thats a given.

I forgot that there is one place that ranch dressing is ok, Thats BUFFALO WINGS. However, if theres a really hot splash on the wings, then I dont like the ranch /hot sauce mix. To me they dont agree with each other.

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@Nick Ashley,

I hate almost all pre-made sauces.....and I have never seen ranch dressing, much less tasted it.

Some Australians cover food with tomato sauce......I have always hated that, too.

Most people I know make any sauces they are going to use.

But...here's some stuff I have never known. What are ketchup and catsup? Are they the same, or different?

I would never use bought salad dressing...I make my own...normally, on a green salad for instance, a little extra virgin olive oil, and a hint of balsamic......do Americans all tend to use bought salad dressing?

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Ketchup is reserved for hamburger steaks (when the freezer is otherwise bare), french fries, and crispy fish sticks. Ranch dressing goes begging in our house--Bleu cheese, zesty French, a good vinagrette or homemade dressings rule.

But bar-b-que. The finest sauce in the world cannot make a bad cut of meat good. The best cut of meat can be ruined with a bad sauce. But couple good meat with a great sauce, slow cooked for hours with the meat turned often, any excess grease drained off, and resauced so that the sauce becomes part of the meat--oh my it is food for the gods themselves. And you don't need a pile of napkins to enjoy really good bar-b-que either. Bar-b-que sauce poured or smeared on meat after it is cooked is a sin and messy too.

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@Robert Gentel,

Many Brazilians marinate and dip their meat in chimichurri. There are a few versions of chimichurri. The basic recipe is comprised of: oil (corn or olive), white vinegar, garlic, crushed red pepper, and parsley.
Most cultures have their own so called "dips".

1 Reply

@alex240101,

That sounds good!

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Why do Americans Love Ranch Dressing?

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