Learn
Extra virgin olive oil salad dressing
A dressing is four ingredients and thirty seconds of whisking. What separates a good one from a flat one is the ratio, the order you add things, and whether the oil is worth tasting on its own.
Three parts extra virgin olive oil to one part acid. Salt the acid first so it dissolves, add an emulsifier — mustard, honey, tahini or yoghurt — then pour the oil in slowly while whisking. Dress the leaves at the last moment, never earlier.
Work out your ratio
Start at 3:1 and move from there. A sharper dressing for rich food goes to 2:1; a peppery, assertive oil you want front and centre goes to 4:1.
| For four people | Amount |
|---|---|
| Extra virgin olive oil | 6 tbsp |
| Lemon juice or vinegar | 2 tbsp |
| Mustard, honey or tahini | 1 tbsp |
Why dressings split — and how to stop it
Oil and acid do not want to stay mixed. An emulsifier fixes this. Mustard is the classic, but honey, tahini and yoghurt work too. Add the oil slowly while whisking and stop once combined.
Four dressings worth making
Lemon and oregano
6 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp lemon juice, oregano, honey, garlic, salt and pepper.
Tahini and lemon
4 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp tahini, 2 tbsp lemon juice, cold water and salt.
Yoghurt, mint and garlic
3 tbsp olive oil, 200g thick yoghurt, garlic, mint, lemon and salt.
Pomegranate molasses
6 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses, sumac, chilli flakes and salt.
Four ways people ruin a good dressing
Dressing too early
Salt and acid pull water out of leaves. Dress at the table.
Wet leaves
Water repels oil, so dressing slides off and pools.
Under-salting
Salt the acid before the oil goes in so it dissolves.
Tired oil
Nothing is cooked away in a dressing, so a stale oil tastes exactly as stale as it is.
A dressing hides nothing
Use oil you would happily eat off a spoon. Single-origin, cold-extracted within 24 hours, tinned to keep the light out.