Test Kitchen tips: Vinaigrette

In his first "Master Class" story for The Times' Food section, chef Tom Colicchio explored the often under-appreciated vinaigrette:

A traditional vinaigrette is a temporary emulsion — a finicky mixture of one liquid dispersed in another (in this case, oil in vinegar). The challenge with an emulsion is to combine two liquids that do not dissolve in each other. One way to do this is mechanically: Use the force of a whisk or, better yet, a blender, to physically break the oil into millions of individual droplets.

Colicchio explains how to construct a vinaigrette, talks through the ratio of acid to fat, various flavorings and seasonings, emulsifiers and stabilizers, and shares a recipe for braised sea bass with black olive vinaigrette.

If you have any kitchen tips or questions you'd like me to explore, leave a comment below or shoot me an email at noelle.carter@latimes.com.

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-- Noelle Carter
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Photo credit: Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times