kitchen question: how do you serve oil & vinegar?

[xela]

I've always used bottled salad dressing, and I guess I've had other things to pay attention to when eating with someone who used oil & vinegar. At any rate, I want to have it on offer for some dinner guests this weekend — and I suddenly realize I have no idea how it's served.

I do recall seeing on at least one occasion (a friend's parents' dining table, circa 1986) a widget into which you pour oil and vinegar, and out of which you somehow magically* pour oil&vinegar. Does anyone know what these are called? And do they really work? Or is the fact that they don't the reason I only recall ever seeing the one?

I also think I've oil and vinegar on the table each in its own small bottle with a pour spout. Is that the normal presentation?

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* I remember the pater familias explaining how it worked, and it making sense to me at the time, but it was a long time ago.

Comments

[motodraconis.livejournal.com]

I suppose the trouble with the widget is that individuals vary the ratio of oil to vinegar to taste, hence having separate bottles so people have precise control.
It seems to me an Italian thing to have bottles on the table, in France my relies and family friends would pre-mix oil, wine vinegar and garlic and toss that onto the salad before serving, so you never had to dress your own salads. (In extreme cases, there might be one pre-mixed bottle on the table - for example to top up when eating artichokes using the dip-it-yourself method.)

In other words, there is no right or wrong method, it depends on which culture you're drawing from.

[nuclearpolymer.livejournal.com]

I really don't understand the whole idea of salad dressing---it's like people don't want to actually taste the vegetables.
I have seen oil and vinegar served in separate small bottles, or when used for bread, mixed together in a shallow dish.

[jered]

That's taking it a bit far, that's like saying "I don't understand the whole idea of preparing anything, it's like people don't want to actually taste the chicken/beef/tofu". Certainly most vegetables could do with at the very least a dusting of salt to bring out the subtleties, and a light amount of dressing complements the vegetables, just like any seasoning does.

There's no excuse for drowning your salad in dressing, though. That's just nasty and unhealthy.

As to the original question, something like a caprese I will serve already dressed, same with my beet salad. If I were to serve oil & vinegar, I would either put them in two separate squeeze bottles, or I would put them both in one and shake before application.

[dpolicar]

If I'm going to add herbs to the dressing, I pre-mix, often adding lime juice as well as vinegar.

Otherwise, I serve in separate cruets.

I've seen the two-cruet widget, but have never owned one.

When I'm just serving salad for me, I generally just use vinegar.

[rhean.livejournal.com]

We usually just put the two bottles out on the table with salt and pepper and the right thing ends up happening. I've seen a cute glass gadget that has two spouts. One spout is for the internal chamber and one for the chamber that surrounds the internal chamber. You fill the outside with olive oil, and the inside with balsamic vinegar, so visually you see a dark blob suspended in a light blob. But prettier than that sounds. By a lot.

I've no idea how practical it is or what it's called though.

[nuclearpolymer.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I guess in many situations, I do not in fact want to taste the ingredients. Like flour. I am usually not eating baked goods in order to taste the wheat. Nor do I particularly want to taste milk or soybeans And often, I do not wish to taste chicken or mammal either, I just want to taste some sort of salty flavored protein with a meat-like texture. But maybe I'm just weird that way. It just happens that raw vegetables are usually something that I do want to taste when I'm eating them, plus I like to eat them with my fingers, so dressed salad doesn't work very well.

[gnibbles.livejournal.com]

That is indeed passing strange. I never eat meat to taste salt. If it's pork I want, by god, it's *pork* I want, not some proteinous glob that's been salted. Veggies are the same for me. If I want a carrot or celery or even lettuce, darn it, I want carrot or celery or lettuce, not dressing-drowned-green-thing.

[aerynne.livejournal.com]

We have two small bottles with pour spouts that help prevent one from drowning one's salad in vinegar in which we keep them separately. We used to have a single thing that had two compartments (but you still poured them separately) but the cork had problems and we had to stop using it.