So we all know the world is changing, and pretty quickly, too.
It's an age of technology, and future anthropologists will surely describe this era as the age of the smartphone -- a period when humans first began carrying small devices in their pockets that could make phone calls, play music, tell them the weather, bring them the news, give them directions, entertain them for hours and answer pretty much any question they could think of.
But while technology always gets the limelight when it comes to the things that define our modern existence, there are countless other factors that have also become key components of our modern culture. I'm talking about the little things and big things, that are unique to this period in time. And many of these things we hardly ever think about.
Take ranch dressing, for instance. Today, ranch dressing is the dominant salad dressing in the United States. At restaurant salad bars across the country, ranch dressing almost always gets the largest tub. It's used not only for salads, but for dipping all kinds of fried foods, from chicken fingers to mozzarella sticks. Some folks are now serving ranch dressing with pizza. The condiment aisle at the grocery store is filled with countless varieties of ranch dressing. Hidden Valley, alone, offers at least six different flavors of ranch dressing -- buttermilk, peppercorn, spicy, bacon, cheese and fiesta salsa. And this doesn't even count the low-fat or fat-free options.
It wasn't always this way. Back when I was a kid, and was first introduced to the idea of eating salads, ranch was just one of numerous options at the salad bar. There was Italian, "creamy" Italian, French, bleu cheese, Caesar, vinaigrette, Thousand Island, balsamic, honey mustard and Greek, among others. My parents got me to eat lettuce by dousing it with French dressing, which has a sweet taste.
It would be years later before I personally discovered ranch dressing, and that was a joyous day. Today, ranch is easily my go-to salad dressing, not to mention my go-to dipping sauce for everything from buffalo wings to onion rings. I am definitely a fan. In fact, I have hypothesized that, with the exception of "sweet" fare, there isn't a food on this planet that isn't enhanced with ranch dressing. Fried foods? Absolutely. Sandwiches? Yep. Pizza? Why not? Chips and crackers? Sure. Steaks and hamburgers? Haven't tried it, but I bet it could work.
Ranch dressing didn't even exist before the 1950s. The story goes that a couple in California developed the dressing and served it to guests at the Hidden Valley Ranch, a dude ranch near Santa Barbara. Soon they began selling packages for guests to take home, and eventually, they created the Hidden Valley Ranch food company. That company was sold to Clorox in 1972.
In the 1970s, there were numerous court cases involving trademark infringement, as other companies began developing and selling their own versions of ranch dressing. In the years to follow, ranch became a common flavor for snack foods, with Cool Ranch Doritos coming out in 1987, and Hidden Valley Ranch Wavy Lays hitting the shelves in 1994.
In 1992, ranch dressing became the top-selling salad dressing in the United States, overtaking Italian. It has been the condiment king ever since.
Interestingly enough, the ranch phenomenon appears to be unique the United States. While varieties of the dressing are sold in the U.S. and Canada, the seasoning is unknown in many parts of the world. A friend of mine once told me that in Europe, Cool Ranch Doritos are sold as "Cool American Doritos." Maybe in the years to come, ranch dressing will be the latest great thing that America exports to the rest of the world.
Perhaps one day, those of us who are old enough to remember will tell our grandchildren about what life was like before ranch dressing was supreme on the salad bar. They will look at us in disbelief when we tell them that there used to be things like "French dressing" and "bleu cheese." It will be as if we were describing using a rotary telephone with a chord, or having to have a large case to store all our music.
There's no doubt about it: We are living in the Era of Ranch. It's a special time, to be sure.
Now, if I can just get a ranch dressing app for my smartphone, I'll have it made.
aweld@blythevillecourier.com