Welcome back to continuing coverage of Salad Week on wentyworld.com! It’s time to watch today’s salad unveiling video:
And now…something very exciting!
Yesterday we covered Nebraska’s best-loved salad dressing, Dorothy Lynch. I wondered if other states have equally beloved, small-circulation dressings and did a little rooting around. That’s how I found a fellow named Herb Viniagrette of Milton, Delaware. In Milton the most popular salad dressing is Herb Viniagrette’s Herb Vinaigrette. I exchanged some questions with Herb via online chat and I think you’ll find it fascinating…or it’ll fill some time.
WENTY: First of all, I have to ask: Is Herb Viniagrette your given name?
HERB: Given by my old man Herb Senior, yes sir! The Viniagrette clan came to America in the 1920s and, as happened at Ellis Island back then, our name was slightly Americanized. We were originally the Viniagrettchonina family.
WENTY: That’s a mouthful.
HERB: It was really a blessing. You will notice that we spell our family name Viniagrette while the dressing is spelled vinaigrette. People miss that sometimes.
WENTY: So how did you get in the salad dressing business?
HERB: It kind of happened by accident. I was in the supermarket in the salad dressing aisle, looking for some ranch dressing…and my bowling buddy Charlie walks by and says, “Here! This one’s got your name on it,” and throws a bottle of herb vinaigrette in my cart. I laughed all the way to the express lane!
WENTY: Nobody had ever made that connection before?
HERB: I don’t think so. Of course, the “H” in my name is pronounced, whereas the “H” in herb is silent.
WENTY: Right.
HERB: People miss that sometimes.
WENTY: So, what kind of market do you have for Herb Viniagrette’s Herb Vinaigrette?
HERB: We’re in all the restaurants in Milton..most of the supermarkets…that dang Publix is like the Berlin Wall.
WENTY: So let’s talk about the dressing itself. Is it an old family recipe? Do you have a factory or do you make it all at home?
HERB: Oh,,,jeez, no, I just buy cases of herb vinaigrette at the Costco and slab my label on the bottles.
WENTY: Oh.
HERB: I shouldn’t have said that should I?
WENTY: Well, I…
HERB: Can you take that out?
WENTY: I don’t think you have anything to worry about. My website doesn’t get a lot of hits.
HERB: Can people Google it?
WENTY: They’d have to know about it to Google it.
HERB: Ah.