argumate:

argumate:

probably the hardest aspect of America for me to understand is “ranch” dressing

1nsomnizac said: it was one of the awful foods of the 1950s that survived

kontextmaschine said: In the railroad era America expanded into its plains before local farming knowledge or economies developed so for like a century we made do with preserved or durability-bred vegetables made edible by fatty sauces from chicken/livestock supply chains that scaled better

so how much does its known origin in the ‘50s derive from this earlier American experience?

via iceberg lettuce wedges w/blue cheese dressing as the national standard salad (iceberg being durable enough to survive freezer cars, it was the first out-of-season green vegetable available in much of America)

AND the way that railroad dining cars spread the cuisine of chopped & seasoned salads like the Chef and Cobb, which were protein+greens minced & decorated enough to make subprime inputs interesting

AND the way that the Hidden Valley dude ranch was the apex of railroad-age travel, obscure but making do within continental supply lines before the Jet Age made the vacation world 24/7/365 focused on coastal beaches