Ranch dressing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ranch dressing is an American condiment. The dressing is made of buttermilk or sour cream, mayonnaise, minced green onion, and other seasonings mixed into a sauce. Ranch dressing is one of the top two styles of salad dressing in the United States. [1].
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[edit] History
In 1954, Steve and Gayle Henson opened a dude ranch near Santa Barbara, California, and named it "Hidden Valley Ranch". As a side business, they sold a special dressing to guests that Steve had developed in Alaska. The dressing was popular, and they began selling bottles that guests could take home, and later opened a factory to sell packets of ranch seasoning that had to be mixed with mayonnaise and buttermilk (packets that are still available to this day). In 1972 the brand was bought by Clorox for $8 million.
Clorox reformulated the dressing several times to try to make it more convenient. The first change was to include buttermilk flavoring in the seasoning so that home chefs only had to add milk rather than buttermilk. In 1983, Clorox developed a non-refrigerated bottled formulation, making it even more popular.
Ranch became a standard potato chip flavor, starting with Cool Ranch Doritos in 1987, and Hidden Valley Ranch Wavy Lay's in 1994.
[edit] Usage
- In much of America, ranch is a common dipping sauce for things like french fries, chicken wings and other fried foods. This spread to other regions has been attributed to Denny's offering it as a choice with their meals for over two decades nationwide.
- Ranch is also commonly used as a dipping sauce for pizza. Therefore, its presence has become commonplace at numerous pizza places; most major pizza chains such as Pizza Hut and Domino's Pizza offer ranch dressing as a dipping sauce option.
