WORSHIPPING GREEN GODDESS
Whether classic or contemporary, this versatile dressing is divine
When I was a kid, we always had an array of dressings on the table when salad was served: Catalina, Italian, Blue Cheese, Thousand Island and French.
I would switch back and forth, depending on my mood, with the sweet dressings at the bottom of my list. I really had no favourite until Green Goddess appeared with no fanfare as if she had been with the others all along. GG was a fabulous shade of green and tasted as good as she looked.
The name made me think of a creature that walked on land but flowed like a mermaid, in pale green chiffon with emeralds for eyes.
The dressing was a California creation from the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. It was a tribute to George Arliss, the star of the 1921 play and 1930 movie The Green Goddess.
James Beard included the recipe in his 1972 book American Cookery and that’s where I happily reacquainted myself with the GG.
I’m sure I took liberties with it, not using anchovies and probably using dried tarragon. In 1977, I wouldn’t have known where to find fresh tarragon. And anchovies, although I liked them, were not one of the ingredients I kept in my fridge.
Now I always have a giant jar of anchovies on hand and know where to get fresh tarragon. I don’t recommend dry tarragon — it barely has any flavour — or skimping on the anchovies.
They create the backbone of the dressing and to my tastebuds are undetectable.
Green Goddess is good on almost everything: fish, shellfish, chicken, vegetables, eggs and with certain fruits. Melons, apples, pears and peaches are suited to the flavour and creamy texture.
A few years ago I got excited when Green Goddess made an appearance in one of my social media feeds and I clicked through the recipes. They were avocado-based and had … wait, is that basil in there? And yogurt, nut milk, tofu?
I was miffed at first because it was not really Green Goddess, then realized that almost all good and classic things will be transformed over time.
I put spinach in the version that I make to bump up the green and made my own contemporary version with simple ingredients and with the avocado providing texture.
I love these changes. It’s how the art of cooking develops. And I always pay homage to the classics because they’re the starting point.