why is it called thousand island dressing? and why is it orange?
It’s made with tomatoes, in addition to chilies, mayonaise, and spices.
It may have originated in one of the resorts of the Thousand Islands region. The Thousand Islands lie between New York and Ontario in the St. Lawrence River.
Work is the curse of the drinking classes. (Oscar Wilde)
In fact, in many restaurants, it is a combination of mayonaisse, mustard, ketchup and pickle relish.
The version I heard when I was living in Kingston, Ontario was that a Vanderbilt or a Morgan or one of those types was on a cruise in the Thousand Islands when the cook first came up with it.
No cite to back this up, though.
Thanks for doing your bit to advance the cause of human knowledge.
– Cecil Adams
The Legend of Thousand Islands Dressing
"The origin of 1000 Island Dressing is related to George Boldt, one-time owner of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York and of the Bellevue-Stratford in Philadelphia.
Legend has it that while cruising aboard his yacht amongst the 1000 Islands on the St. Lawrence River, as his steward prepared luncheon, he discovered that some of the ingredients normally used in his dressings were not available.
He prepared a dressing using a variety of ingredients which George Boldt found so pleasing that he decided to have it served in his hotels."
This begs for a bigger question to be asked:
Outside the US, do the people of France know what French dressing is? Italy and Italian?, etc? Are they a one-dressing culture?
Also, isn’t Russian dressing the same as Thousand Islands? Or, is it without the islands (the pickle relish)?
And, should 1000 Island be Canadian dressing?
“They’re coming to take me away ha-ha, ho-ho, hee-hee, to the funny farm where life is beautiful all the time… :)” - Napoleon IV
McDonalds secret sauce is 1000 Island dressing, believe it or not. Try it on your own burgers.
The REAL “French dressing,” the one to which classic cookbooks usually allude, is a simple oil-and-vinegar dressing seasoned with salt, pepper, and various herbs. It’s also known as “vinaigrette.”
Where that weird commercial bottled American atrocity, the sweet red-orange stuff, came from, I can’t say.
Uke
While I was visiting Ashland Oregon’s Shakespeare Festival, I found the greatest little hole-in-the-wall ever. Daddy-O’s! They have the best milkshakes on the face of this planet. They also made this great little secret sauce that you could dip your french fries in. After pondering the taste for a long time I have come up with a very similar substitute. Thousand Island Dressing and Tabasco Sauce (adjusted for heat-tolerant-tongues). I highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys a good sauce to go with fries or on burgers.
“I can never give a ‘yes’ of a ‘no.’ I don’t believe everything in life can be settled by a monosyllable” *Betty Smith
I love thousand island dressing. some years ago I was eating at an American restaurant in Madrid and I was trying to order it but I did not know the Spanish name. I described it as best I could but the waiter could not identify it so I just gave up. This guy was a moron or had too much imagination and was trying to imagine some exotic american dressing he never heard of… Actually it is very common in Spain and it is called “salsa rosa” (pink sauce). Maybe the its American origen is not widely known.
Which reminds me that Vichysoise, in spite of the French name, is also an American invention. (Now… where did I read that?)