For a French salad dressing, put into a basin a
good pinch of freshly-ground black pepper, half a tea
spoonful of salt, and a scant tablespoonful of tarragon
(or plain) vinegar, and stir this well together till
the salt is perfectly dissolved; now work into the
mixture three full tablespoonfuls of good salad oil
(Provence oil is generally the sweetest); lay in your
salad, and toss it well over and over in this dressing
till each leaf, etc., has imbibed its proper share, then
lift them out with the salad servers into the salad
bowl, and serve. Never mix salad in the salad bowl
unless you have personally wiped every leaf, etc.,
or you will find a sloppy residuum at the bottom of
the bowl that will quite spoil the flavour. Do not
forget either that salad should only be mixed just
as it is wanted. For mayonnaise, put into a basin
one raw egg yolk, an eggspoonful of mustard (either
French or English, or half of each), and a pinch each
of salt and white pepper; mix this all with a deli-
cately clean wooden spoon (a special spoon should
always be kept for salad-mixing), adding, drop by
drop, enough good oil to bring it all to the consistency
of butter, and, lastly, add a teaspoonful or so of best
vinegar, plain or flavoured. This will make about
half a pint of sauce, and will take up about one-third
of a pint of oil. There are, of course, many different
forms of mayonnaise, but these have been given with
the fancy salads to which they belong. Never, if
possible, let a mayonnaise salad stand after it is
mixed, or the vegetables will get sloppy and sodden;
whilst exposure to the air will give the dressing a
most unpleasant, rank flavour.