Keep it simple...

That's the first rule of cooking.

Anyone who has watched the latest cookery programmes on telly must have heard this phrase. The presenters make it sound like a new prophecy!
Like reinventing the wheel!
Of course, things have to be kept simple or else you lose the plot.

There were many instances in the Seventies and Eighties, when over-zealous cooks misunderstood Nouvelle Cuisine, marrying totally unmixable ingredients together for the sake of presentation and ending up with unpalatable mix bound for the divorce courts!

























This post was prompted after I tweaked the vinaigrette at Casa.

Vinaigrette is the French for salad dressing and it comes from the word vinaigre (vinegar).
The original recipe is one quarter vinegar and three quarters oil. Salt and pepper are normally the only other ingredients.
My mother usually replaced the vinegar by lemon juice. This made her dressing taste a lot fresher.
The addition of any other ingredient is the cook's prerogative. Flavoured vinegars, mustards, herbs, etc... are all acceptable in the right measure.

Personally, I prefer the simple version. Here is how I prepare one portion of salad:
A large plastic bowl. One tbsp of olive oil, a pinch each of freshly ground sea salt and black pepper and the juice of a quarter of lemon.
All this before I add the salad ingredients. This is the only way one can tell how much dressing is used.
No need to mix, whisk or blend!
I just add the ingredients.
Tossing the salad is all one needs to cover the leaves with dressing. That is the reason for the large bowl.
My favourite side salad is a head of baby gems, a few slices of fresh fennel, a tsp of finely chopped red onion and that's about it.

Ready, steady, munch!

16 comments:

Zéphyr said...

Peux-tu me donner la version française de cette recette car je n'ai pas bien compris la traduction automatique.

Anonymous said...

its good to know about it? where did you get that information?

Anonymous said...

very nice! hahahahaha

Anonymous said...

ok. I found an information here that i want to look for.

Anonymous said...

Parfaitement en accord avec toi ,comme c'est souvent le cas .

J'ajoute que cette vinaigrette ,ressemble fort à celle du midi de la france ( d'huile d'olive et de citron )

j'en connais des variantes mais , une vinaigrette qui marche on en change pas !

(à l'huile de noix ou de pépin de raisin , au vinaigre de cidre" même ci le terme est impropre"vinaigre de xérès ...)


Si cela peut aider Zéphyr , " vinaigrette " Mais pour les justes proportions ce référer au Maestro Krimo

Krimo said...

Midi de la France, Algerie... une petite flaque d'eau entre les deux...
Des variantes, il y en a certainement, mais personnellement je prefere ne pas noyer les saveurs...
Les Americains sont les plus grands coupables quand il s'agit de compliquer la cuisine simple...

Caroline said...

Very interesting - I'll have to try your method.

Anonymous said...

Tu as raison ,la frontière entre l'Algérie et la France est bien plus étroite que ce qu'en pensent certains de nos compatriotes ,même pour la gastronomie !Surtout pour la gastronomie !
Les saveurs du midi ,en sont l'exemple

Krimo said...

Please tell me if it works out, Caro.

Tant qu'il y a de l'eau-de-vie, y'a de l'espoir, Crabtree.

Zéphyr said...

J'attends la traduction

Krimo said...

Crabtree t'a gracieusement le lien vers La Vinaigrette, un peu plus haut...
Mais la simple recette est:
-1/4 vinaigre ou citron
-3/4 huile
-sel
-poivre...

Zéphyr said...

Oui Chef, je remercie Crabtree pour le tuyau : le site est tellement alléchant que je l'ai mis dans mes favoris.

Anonymous said...

Oui ! Krimo ,un lien mais uniquement pour avoir des repères !

Zéphyr ,la référence reste avant tout Krimo qu'il faut remercier pour sa justesse et sa simplicité !

la bellina mammina said...

I've always used olive oil, kosher salt and lemon for my salad dressing... tres simple!

neena maiya (guyana gyal) said...

That's what they told us in advertising...keep it simple, stupid. The really good ad campaigns are not complicated at all.

Trac said...

Even I might be able to 'cook' that!