The vinegar sinks in oil and doesn’t mix with the oil. I dip the bread in all the way but come up with only oil and virtually no vinegar. Eventually, after several pieces of bread covered in pretty much oil only, the oil gets mopped up and the vinegar starts soaking into the bread. The last bite of bread is pretty much wet with all vinegar and little oil.
Is there a good way to get a good mix of oil and vinegar in each bite of bread?
Hmm. I don’t know if you do this the same way, but the way I was shown how to pour the oil and vinegar is to drizzle the oil in a circle, then pour the vinegar into the middle before the oil has a chance to spread out and close up. If there’s not an overabundance of oil, it won’t move over the vinegar, and you can then dip the bread so that part’s in the vinegar and part’s in the oil. Obviously, after a couple of dips it gets a little mussed up, but I find it works well enough.
When there are spots of vinegar that are submerged in the oil, I just press down firmly enough to get at them. I try to keep the liquid shallow, so that usually doesn’t overdo it.
My method’s similar; I use a saucer, not a bowl for holding the liquid, and if I don’t like the amount of oil I have, I wipe it on another piece of bread. Probably rude, but hey, it’s just my husband, me and the dogs and we’re not sticklers.
No ground pepper and parmesian with it?
It definitely needs to be served in a saucer.
I prefer just oil, with parmesan and black pepper. The vinegar just doesn’t work for me as a dippin’ thang.
I’m with you on that one. A top quality olive oil needs little else.
I actually prefer the vinegar to the oil. I find that pressing the bread firmly through the oil and holding it in the vinegar for a second before removing it usually draws in a satisfactory amount of vinegar. It’s more like soaking it up with a sponge than simply dipping it.
This was in a reastaurant and they served the oil & vinegar in a little bowl. I guess that’s the root of the problem and I should probably request a saucer in the future.
I prepared oil and vinegar plates for nine years when I was in the restaurant biz.
This is what you do: Use a circular plate with enough of a raised lip so that it can contain the oil and vinegar and hopefully provide an ample finger-hold when mixing.
Put the oil on the plate first. Put the desire amount of vinegar onto the oil. It will be in big globs but that doesn’t matter.
Holding the lip of the plate, apply a smooth, circular mixing motion to the plate. Take it easy at first and make your circles small and slow at first, otherwise the vinegar will go flying off the plate.
As the oil and vinegar mix, the vinegar will continue to break into smaller and smaller globules and will be locked down into the oil. This effect allows you to mix harder and faster without fear of making a mess.
At this point, mix to the desired effect. You can do it for 10 minutes if you want an extremely fine, homogeneous mix.
Yes, bowl is bad - saucer better.
Plus, it is better to put just a bit of each on the saucer - and then add more later if needed. That way, you don’t overdo it and just put a bit on the bread for flavor instead of sopping it up to make soggy slop.
Combine your oil and vinegar in a jar ahead of time with a bit of Xanthan Gum Powder by shaking vigourously. It’s a common, falvorless, ingredient in salad dressings, and will prevent oil and vinegar from speperating,
The real dificulty for me is finding a quality vinegar. I wonder if you would think differently if you had a good vinegar. Frankly, if the vinegar isn’t good enough on it’s own, it’s not worth having at all IMO.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t include this e-article about working with Xanthan Gum. I think one should whisk the powder into the vinegar and then shake with the oil. Use the powder sparingly.
Xanthan gum is one way… another way might be as simple as to dunk the bread in a saucer of oil, and then into a saucer of vinegar… dip seperately for control.
In the same vein of thought I put EV olive oil on 1/2 a dinner roll with rosemary, sweet basil and oregano and lightly toast it. It goes with soup, spaghetti, gumbo… Hell I’m eating it by itself right now with a glass of sweet tea. I’m just waiting for the mint to grow enough to add to the tea.
By the way, for the olive oil lovers, you can buy a spray bottle that has a hand pump built into it.
Just realized that I had an olive oil/vinegar dip at a restaurant about a month ago. It was raspberry vinegar and they served it in a saucer for dipping. I’m assuming they simply shook it up just prior to pouring and the flat surface negated the separation.
The interplay between the amount of oil and vinigar is an important part of the experience. It’s like nachos- sometimes you get some meat, sometimes the sour creme, sometimes a hot pepper. Every bite is different, allowing you to savor the ingredients in new and different ways.
Unless you make each chip a canapé of individual ingredients.