Vinaigrettes Need Emulsifiers

Without an emulsifier, any vinaigrette risks “breaking” (or separating into its constituent parts) straight away. To avoid disintegration and the harm that it brings (in a salad, for instance, pooling vinegar and separated-out oil that breaks down greens), you’d need to consume the salad immediately after mixing a vinaigrette. Immediately is not practical, and anyway you could not store the new vinaigrette in the refrigerator for even a few minutes without it separating. 

Emulsifiers for salad dressings include mustard (perhaps the most common), mayonnaise, honey, and egg yolk, although in its raw state this latter emulsifier may pose a health risk to some eaters. Some vinaigrettes use more than one emulsifier, as does the recipe here.

For salad dressings, most cooks have their favored ratio of vinegar to oil, as well as their favorite type of oil or vinegar (depending on each pantry’s hierarchy for either), their preferred method for combining all the ingredients and—not the least—what flavorings they add to the vinaigrette to distinguish it.

The recipe for vinaigrette here uses a very common ratio of 3:1, oil to vinegar.

Foolproof Vinaigrette
From “Cook’s Illustrated” magazine and America’s Test Kitchen; makes 1/4 cup, enough to dress 8-10 cups lightly packed greens. Red wine, white wine, or champagne vinegar will work in this recipe. (Sherry wine vinegar may be too potent.) It is important to use high-quality ingredients. This vinaigrette works with nearly any type of green. For a hint of garlic flavor, rub the inside of the salad bowl with a clove of peeled garlic before adding the lettuce.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon wine vinegar
1 and 1/2 teaspoons finely minced shallot
1/2 teaspoon regular or light mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon salt
Ground black pepper
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Directions
Combine vinegar, shallot, mayonnaise, mustard, salt, and pepper to taste in a small nonreactive bowl. Whisk until mixture is milky in appearance, and no lumps of mayonnaise remain.

Place the oil in a small measuring cup so it is easy to pour. Whisking constantly, very slowly drizzle oil into vinegar mixture. If pools of oil are gathering on surface as you whisk, stop addition of oil and whisk mixture well to combine, then resume whisking in oil in slow stream. Vinaigrette should be glossy and lightly thickened, with no pools of oil on its surface. (Vinaigrette may be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.)

More recipes for Vinaigrettes, Dressings, and a killer Marinade