When Harry Met Saucy

The other night at the restaurant where I work, the executive chef admonished one of the other chefs for not applying enough dressing to the spinach salad.

In his opinion, (and since he's the executive chef it's HIS opinion that counts), the salad was too dry. These are the kind of incidental tidbits that set my brain into motion and become grist for the "Food for Thought" mill.

How much dressing should go on a salad? How much sauce should go on pasta? A grilled duck breast? Or your poached salmon? Should the sauce fill the plate, cover just the entrée, or be scantily dispersed in some kind of petite, artistic design?

I'll cut to the chase and tell you that the ultimate answer is your personal taste. If you're the one eating it you have the right to have as much, or as little sauce or dressing as you like.

When preparing meals for yourself at home, it's easy to follow the dictates of your palate. But what if you're entertaining a number of guests? Or worse yet, making dinner for 150 patrons at a restaurant.

Yikes! Then you are forced into a one-size-fits-all portion, at the very least to provide consistency, but also to facilitate the monitoring of food usage and cost.

But gold standards vary from dish to dish and from chef to chef. A Culinary Institute of America textbook recommends two to three tablespoons of dressing per two ounces of salad. But within this edict lurks exceptions to the rule.

For example, the flavor and the flavor intensity of the greens and/or the dressing may influence the amount of dressing you choose to employ. Moreover, the flavor profile of secondary ingredients in the salad, (cheese, anchovies, meat, vegetables, etc.), must be considered to determine the "proper" amount.

Textural and color factors may also play a role. Yet this can still be quite subjective. My executive chef would deem the Culinary Institute's rule too skimpy for his spinach salad.

And then there's the sauce issue. The same guidelines with salad dressing apply to sauce. The flavor, texture, and color of the sauce, the main item, and any accompaniments, can all influence the amount of sauce.

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