Salad dressings are not a last-minute afterthought, but an essential part of the whole dish. Freshly made dressings are always tastier than any bottle you can buy at the supermarket and you can adjust the proportions and important from the health point of view the amount of salt--to suit you. You will be aware from the recipes in the previous chapters that dressings are intended to complement and enhance the flavors of the salad ingredients not to smother and overpower them, and no single dressing will be satisfactory for every kind of salad. However, there are some, such as flavored vinaigrette, that work well with many different salads and these forms a useful addition to your repertoire.
An easy and delightful way of enhancing salad dressings and giving them a personal touch is to use flavored oils and vinegar. You can pay a lot of money if you buy these in the supermarket or delicatessen but they are actually astonishingly easy and economical to make at home and will keep well in a cool, dark place. Herb oils can be used for cooking as well as salad dressings, and spiced vinegar, add a real gourmet touch to many meals.
GROUNDNUT-PEANUT OIL
This relatively tasteless oil is useful for frying, cooking and dressing salads. Because it is very stable, it can be heated to the high temperatures required for deep- and stir-frying and also the same batch of oil can be safely used more than once. Chinese peanut oil is darker in color than groundnut oil and has a more distinctive nutty flavor. It is good in Asian salads and stir-fries. Groundnut oil is also widely used in the canning industry and in the manufacture of various types of margarine. Anyone with an allergy to peanuts should avoid using the oil.
VEGETABLE OIL
This blend of various oils, including coconut oil, rape seed, cottonseed and palm oil is usually very cheap It is highly refined and common a deep golden color. It is a good choice for frying, as it has a high smoke point, but is not a good choice of dressings, as it lacks any discernible character or flavor and has a rather greasy texture.
PALM OIL
A bright orange waxy oil from the oil palm, this is one of the main cooking fats in Central and South America, the Caribbean and West Africa, Elsewhere, it is usually heavily refined, losing its color, and is used in the manufacture of vegetable fats and oils. If you find unrefined palm oil, use it in highly colored and spiced dishes, as it has a nutty flavor. It is high in saturated fats.
COCONUT OIL
Solid at room temperature, coconut oil is white and buttery in texture. It as a distinctive coconut flavor and is widely used in Southeast Asia and India. It is high in saturated fats.
MALT VINEGAR
Made from soured beer, malt vinegar is used in Britain and other northern European countries for pickling onions and other vegetables, or for sprinkling over potato chips (French fries). It can be clear, but is more often sold colored with caramel, making it dark brown in color. Malt vinegar has a robust, harsh flavor and is not suitable for salad dressings.
DISTILLED VINEGAR
This is a colorless vinegar that is mostly used for pickling onions and other vegetables when you wish to preserve the color of the vegetable.
FLAVORED VINEGAR
Wine vinegar is the most popular choice as the base for making vinegar flavored thought cider vinegar can use. Herbs such as tarragon, basil, thyme and mint can be added. Will be chilies, garlic, capers and anchovies. Soft fruit can be used to enhance the flavor of white wine vinegar, with raspberries being the most popular choice. Flavored vinegar can be bought ready-made, but are also very easy to make at home, simply using red or white wine vinegar and very fresh unblemished fruit or herbs. Flavored vinegar should always be stored in a cool dark place. When using flavored vinegar. Pair them with the appropriate ingredients. For example, robust meats will go well with more pungently flavored vinegar such as rosemary, whereas a delicately flavored fish will be better suited to a milder vinegar such as a fruit vinegar,
COCONUT VINEGAR
This amber colored vinegar is highly regarded in the Philippines. It is made from coconut nectar tapped from the flower sheaves of mature coconut palms. The tip of the flower stem is cut off to release the sap, which then ferments naturally. The "toddy" is either drunk as it is, or it is allowed to ferment further to become flavorsome coconut vinegar.
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