Boiled dressing is a type of creamy

salad dressing A salad dressing is a sauce for salads, used on virtually all leafy salads. Dressings may also be used in preparing salads of beans (e.g., three bean salad), noodle or pasta salads and antipasti, and forms of potato salad. A dressing may even ...

of English and German origin that was especially popular in the 19th century and early 20th century as an alternative to

mayonnaise Mayonnaise (), colloquially referred to as "mayo" (), is a thick, creamy sauce with a rich and tangy taste that is commonly used on sandwiches, hamburgers, Salad#Bound salads, bound salads, and French fries. It also forms the base for various o ...

, which is of French origin. Boiled dressing is easier for less skilled cooks to make from scratch, and liquid food oils needed to make mayonnaise were not readily available in Northern Europe and the United States in the 19th century. Mayonnaise was not available for retail purchase until 1912.

Preparation

There are many variations of boiled dressing, and common ingredients include vinegar, sugar or honey, milk or cream, eggs or egg yolks, salt, mustard, cayenne and flour. Sometimes, the dressing is actually boiled but more often, it is gently cooked over boiling water in a double boiler. It was used in salads like

cole slaw Coleslaw or cole slaw (from the Dutch term , meaning 'cabbage salad'), also widely known within North America simply as slaw, is a side dish consisting primarily of finely shredded raw cabbage with a salad dressing or condiment, commonly either ...

, chicken salad,

potato salad Potato salad is a salad dish made from boiled potatoes, usually containing a dressing and a variety of other ingredients such as boiled eggs and raw vegetables. It is usually served as a side dish. History and varieties Potato salad is foun ...

and

egg salad Egg salad is a dish consisting of chopped hard-boiled or scrambled eggs, mustard, and mayonnaise, and vegetables often including other ingredients such as celery. It is made mixed with seasonings in the form of herbs, spices and other ingredi ...

Types

Salad cream Salad cream is a creamy, pale yellow condiment based on an emulsion of about 25–50 percent oil in water, emulsified by egg yolk and acidulated by spirit vinegar. It is somewhat similar in composition to mayonnaise, but mayonnaise is made with ...

, a product popular in the United Kingdom, is a type of boiled dressing developed by

Heinz The Kraft Heinz Foods Company, formerly the H. J. Heinz Company and commonly known as Heinz (), is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. ...

in 1914.

Miracle Whip Miracle Whip is a condiment manufactured by Kraft Heinz and sold throughout the United States and Canada. It is also sold by Mondelēz International (formerly also Kraft Foods) as "Miracel Whip" throughout Germany. It was developed as a less expe ...

is a variant of boiled dressing popular in the United States since 1933, marketed by Kraft Foods, Inc. as a product that "combines the best qualities of fine mayonnaise and good old-fashioned boiled dressing by a secret recipe".

History

A 1915 presentation of an elaborate Christmas dinner published in the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' was created by a home economist with the

U.S. Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and production ...

. The article included a recipe for a boiled dressing recommended for use in chicken salad or

fruit salad Fruit salad is a dish consisting of various kinds of fruit, sometimes served in a liquid, either their juices or a syrup. In different forms, fruit salad can be served as an appetizer or a side as a salad. A fruit salad is sometimes known as a ...

. Culinary writer M.F.K. Fisher preferred mayonnaise to boiled dressing, because she associated boiled dressing with her grandmother's old fashioned insistence on using it on lettuce. Another food writer,

James Beard James Andrews Beard (May 5, 1903 – January 21, 1985) was an American chef, cookbook author, teacher and television personality. He pioneered television cooking shows, taught at The James Beard Cooking School in New York City and Seaside ...

, loved

made with boiled dressing, because of pleasant childhood memories of the dish made by his family's beloved Chinese cook, Jue-Let, who was a major culinary influence on Beard.

References

{{reflist Salad dressings Mayonnaise Dressing