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Ranch Dressing Thickens Up, Takes on Ketchup - WSJ.com
Hidden Valley Foods is after your burger, fries and wings.
A new thicker, creamier version of its famous Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing has arrived in a bid to get people to use ranch like they do ketchup.
The company isn't making subtle comparisons. "The New 'Ketchup'" proclaims the label. It is affixed to a "retro-style" ketchup bottle to signal, "hey, this is ketchup," says Jon Balousek, vice president and general manager for the food, charcoal and cat-litter businesses at Clorox Co., which owns Hidden Valley.
I was looking around the web and read someone saying they used Ranch as a dip for pizza. That did not sound good to me. I wondered what you guys think about it. Figured I'd ask.
I've been preparing ranch dressing from the packets for years and love it. I use it on salads, chicken nuggets, French fries, baked potato with sour cream emendation, and with just a spoon.
I will try the scratch recipe shown.
I hadd noticed people in late night eateries of the gamier sort putting ketchup on their scrambled eggs. I never liked it but I thought that since ranch dressing beats ketchup on many things why not give it a try. Sadly, the flavor was lost. However, it did lead to the discovery that a dab or two of mayo in the eggs just as they reach serving consistency is excellent. Julia Child recommends heavy cream or softened butter for this but I prefer mayo. Mix in the mayo and serve immediately.
Ranch dressing will never replace ketchup. They're just too different.
Although the dressing tastes great with many things, sometimes it's just too much fat on fat. Dipping a fry into a little ranch tastes good, slathering it all over fries -uck.
Besides, I thought salsa was supposed to be the new ketchup - or was that like, last year?... or maybe the year before that.......................
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I think ketchup is too sweet! Why do they put so much sugar in it?
Something I like to do with ranch dressing:
Make easy Chipotle Ranch dressing or dip by mixing one tablespoon or more of Tabasco Chipotle into one cup of Hidden Valley Ranch. This is really good for a dip, on a taco salad, or to dip French fries.
I can't find it now, but I read a good article recently about why there are maybe 50 different kinds of mustard at the supermarket, but only one kind of ketchup.
Basically it's because after much experimentation H.J. Heinz created the most perfect condiment possible, with a well balanced blend of all 5 of the basic flavor factors... sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami.
What's umami? It's the "delicious" taste, a savory factor naturally abundant in foods such as mushrooms, red meat and... ripe tomatoes! It's also the taste sensation enhanced by the addition of Accent, which contains L-glutamate.
Never mind the consistency, the taste of Ranch Dressing doesn't fill the mouth the way ketchup does.
Heinz isn't the only brand of ketchup available, though it does have by far the largest share of the market.
I'm not a huge ketchup fan (we don't ever even have any in the fridge, because my SO actively despises it, and I don't use it enough to actively justify the keeping of it around). We tend to use BBQ sauce in the way others use ketchup, but we use mustard the most, overall, in terms of condiments.
I wish someone would make ketchup that didn't have so much sugar.
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