The secret of some dishes is often in the sauce. Not only a quality raw material, a precise technique and suitable cooking affect the quality of a recipe, but on many occasions it is the dressings that are responsible for adding flavor, especially to salads but also to grilled meat or fish . To make a good dressing, it is important to measure the quantities so that no flavor predominates over the rest, as well as to choose the ingredients well so that they can complement and improve the dishes.
Therefore, to prepare a vinaigrette that makes a difference, it is not enough to mix ingredients based on intuition based on what we have in the fridge, but we must choose carefully which dish we are up to in order to decide which dressing is best for it. Tired of the classic mix of vinegar and oil? Here are some ideas to transcend traditional vinaigrettes.
The chef of the restaurant specialized in healthy flexiterian cuisine Brevet CC, in Sant Cugat del Vallès (Barcelona), Javier Plumé, prepares a vinaigrette with red fruits with which he accompanies a goat cheese salad. “The creamy texture of this cheese is softened by the vinaigrette, making the salad more enjoyable, even easier to eat,” he points out. It is prepared with a base of red fruits, which we can make at home or buy a ready-made puree. “If we prefer to make it at home, all we have to do is mix strawberries, raspberries and blueberries and mix them well. Oil, vinegar and a squeeze of lemon or lime are added to provide acidity and it mixes well with the salad”, explains the chef.
Plumé insists that the balance between sweetness and acidity that this vinaigrette presents is key for a dressing to succeed. “The palate appreciates this combination of flavors, for a reason the classic honey-mustard vinaigrette has been so fashionable for a long time, which combines the sweetness of honey with the acidity of mustard. This final umami is what makes the difference in a dish, since it enhances the flavors and makes them more attractive. A lot of people complain that they don't want to eat grass, and that's probably because they haven't experimented with vinaigrettes to give more punch not just to salads, but really to any dish."
The Brevet CC cook points out that ensuring the point of salt is essential for a dish to shine. “Now you can cook the best grilled fish or meat, and if you don't add salt or a seasoning that enhances the flavor, you'll have the feeling of eating in a hospital. That is why I like to salt the meat before putting it on the grill, since the salt penetrates better and a very special flavor is achieved”. Therefore, it is convenient not to be stingy with the salt to finish completing a good vinaigrette, always without going overboard, because an excess can also completely spoil any dish. For this, it is important to check if the ingredients included in both the salad and the vinaigrette (anchovies, ham cubes, etc.) already contain salt.
You can prepare a vinaigrette similar to the classic oil and vinegar but innovating with other ingredients. A good example is the soy-sesame that they make at Brevet CC, which consists, on the one hand, of a mixture of soy sauce, olive oil, sesame oil and a dash of lemon juice. On the other, a reduction of rice vinegar is made, which, as it contains sugar, becomes a kind of caramel. “Once the sugar is diluted, this vinegar is infused in kombu seaweed for a couple of hours, strained and mixed with the soy vinaigrette. The result is spectacular: a flavor bomb with a hint of the sea that combines well, for example, with wild rice, which without seasoning can be heavy due to its slightly earthy flavor”, explains the chef.
One idea to add some swing to chicken salads and other summer dishes is to make a homemade teriyaki sauce. The cook Alfonso López, creator of the Recetas de Chupete portal, proposes a recipe that consists of 100 ml of Mirin, 100 ml of sake, 200 ml of soy sauce, 100 g of brown sugar, 5 g of fresh ginger skin and some optional sesame seeds. You just have to heat the ingredients in a saucepan until they caramelize for 3 minutes and the sauce is ready. López recalls that "the ingredients do not always have to be in the same proportion, but it depends on the recipe" and ensures that "the freshness of the ginger" suits a sauce that is magnificent in different dishes, such as accompanying some meatballs
Another simple and very tasty Japanese sauce, which can be used to dress any salad made with products from the fridge (if we add some Japanese noodles, even better) is Ponzu sauce. López explains that she prepares it “with 100 ml of mirin, 50 ml of orange juice, 40 ml of lemon juice, 40 ml of lime juice, 130 ml of soy sauce and 2 teaspoons of katsuobushi, a skipjack tuna or bonito dry, fermented and smoked height”.
Another good way to dress summer salads, especially those with vegetables such as Russian salad, is by preparing a good homemade mayonnaise. But if we are bored with the classic recipe, we can innovate by introducing other ingredients that give color and flavor to our dishes. López proposes, for example, an avocado mayonnaise, perfect "as a dressing in seafood cocktails and in countless salads". To make it, you simply have to add an avocado to the traditional mayonnaise and mash everything together. This will give it a green hue and complement its flavor. “It is a sauce that is widely used in Venezuelan, Mexican, and Oriental cuisine,” López explains.
Vegan sauces can be prepared in the style of mayonnaise and pink sauce that have nothing to envy to their version with egg. At Brevet they make a vegan Caesar sauce to accompany the Caesar salad, which is a true explosion of flavor despite not containing products of animal origin. “We prepare a version of the traditional Caesar sauce, which contains Parmesan anchovies and a mayonnaise base and we use some capers, which add flavor, a vegan cashew-based Parmesan and instead of mayonnaise we use soyanesa”, explains Plumé.
Sauces and dressings can maximize the flavor of any dish, so it is important to choose carefully which vinaigrette to use when the base of the dishes is not particularly tasty. This is the case of bases such as quinoa, but also rice, since having a discreet flavor they require powerful seasonings, especially if they are accompanied by vegetables. To enhance the flavor in a simple quinoa salad, Plumé proposes “preparing a very simple but very sugary lemon vinaigrette, perfect for marinating the quinoa. We only need lemon juice, olive oil and salt”.
Despite the fact that lemon is usually the protagonist of numerous vinaigrettes, Plumé recommends experimenting with other citrus fruits, such as lime, orange or grapefruit. “You can prepare, for example, a quinoa salad with diced grapefruit and complete it with a grapefruit vinaigrette combined with some type of vinegar, such as Chardonnay. It is a vinegar that is made with this grape variety and it is almost sweet, with the acidity of traditional vinegar, but with a very elegant and subtle touch”, explains Plumé.
The Mediterranean orchard is a paradise of spices and fruits, ideal for making the most diverse dressings. López suggests preparing, for example, an olive vinaigrette, which consists of chopped olives and anchovies, olive oil, vinegar and a pinch of salt, as well as grated boiled eggs. "You have to be careful not to go overboard with the salt, since the anchovies are already salty by themselves," he recalls. Another possibility is to prepare a spicy dressing, perfect to accompany a steamed vegetable salad, for example, light and nutritious.
“To prepare it, we peel and slice the garlic and chilli. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat and fry the garlic until it starts to turn golden. Add the chilli and parsley, turn off the heat and transfer the mixture to a bowl. When the temperature of the oil drops, we add the vinegar and salt. We mix with energy and reserve”, explains López. A trick? "The dressings can be prepared in glass jars, since we will only have to cover them and shake vigorously to have the vinaigrette ready in just a few seconds."
