Sometimes, the secret to a food’s iconic taste is deceptively simple.
For instance, a lot of paprika is actually just bell pepper. Biscoff’s signature taste likely comes from sugar, and cola’s hiding-in-plain-sight star ingredient is the kola nut.
But what about ranch dressing, the creamy American sauce our friends across the pond seem to love so much?
It looks like a sort of garlic-mayo combination, but it turns out there’s much more going on than many of us realise.
What’s in it?
Ranch dressing usually contains both mayo and buttermilk for a doubly creamy finish, though some recipes use sour cream in place of buttermilk.
This can be diluted with a neutral oil like canola oil and a dash of vinegar to reach the perfect consistency.
That base, combined with herbs and seasonings like parsley, dill, garlic powder, pepper, and salt is really all you need to create ranch dressing at home.
However, like burger sauce in the UK, there are endless variations both companies and individuals toy with all the time.
One US brand adds sugar, MSG, vinegar, and starch to the mix.
A UK version also uses vinegar and swaps garlic powder for garlic purée.
American food writer The Pioneer Woman goes for sour cream, mayo, and buttermilk in her recipe, adding Worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper, and Tabasco.
She skips the oil, as does Martha Stewart.
Where did ‘ranch dressing’ even come from?
The New York Times reported that Steve Henson, a Nebraskan plumber, came up with the recipe in the ’50s after working in construction.
He would sometimes double up as the crew’s chef at that time.
Steve Henson bought a property called Sweetwater Ranch, which was ostensibly a guest ranch ― but over time, people started to treat it as a restaurant because the food was so good.
The dressing, which was originally a dry mix, went on almost everything the family cooked. People would collect bottles of the seasoning mix to take home, Steve’s son revealed to The New York Times.
“The dressing pretty much took over the ranch,” the ranch creator’s son told the publication.
Now, it’s America’s favourite sauce.