On Food and Cooking

1 vinegar, similar to the proportions in
mayonnaise, but the preparation is much
simpler. The liquids and other flavorings —
salt, pepper, herbs — are often simply shaken
into a cloudy, temporary emulsion at the last
minute, then poured onto and mixed with the
salad. When made in this casual way, a
vinaigrette is the odd sauce out: instead of
being oil droplets dispersed in water, it’s
water (vinegar) droplets dispersed in oil.
Without the help of an emulsifier, one part of
water simply cannot accommodate three parts
of oil, so the more voluminous phase, the oil,
becomes the continuous phase.
There are good reasons for making oil the
continuous phase of a vinaigrette, and for not
worrying about the stability of the emulsion.
Where many sauces are served under or atop
large pieces of food, oil-and-vinegar
emulsions are used almost exclusively as
salad dressings, whose role is to provide a
very fine and even coat for the extensive