History
The Food That Built America Recap for Say Yes to the Dressing
The season finale of The Food That Built America on The History Channel is called Say Yes to the Dressing and pays homage to the popular condiment known as mayonnaise and how it set the stage for salad dressing.
Thanks to the popularity of French cuisine in America, people began eating mayonnaise with chicken, lobster and various types of salad, including the Waldorf salad.
A New York deli owner named Richard Hellmann began making his own mayonnaise, but the business was struggling. It wasn’t until people began asking for the recipe (and realizing how hard it was to make) that he decided to bottle and sell it, giving us what we now know as Hellmann’s.
However, it was a struggle at first since it spoiled quickly. Richard knew that if he wanted to save his business, he would have to redirect.
Henry Heinz, the man behind ketchup, also ran into this issue with his ketchup years earlier, but once he added sugar and vinegar, as well as other high-quality ingredients, he was able to make it work. Richard decided to follow suit and after some trial and error, was able to make it work.
The mayonnaise was a hit, so he sells the deli and opens a business selling it in bulk, calling it Blue Ribbon Mayonnaise.
Other companies are also making mayonnaise, including Best Foods Mayonnaise, which is owned by Post. This is a threat to Richard, so he sells it to Postum under the condition that the recipe never changes. The name is changed to Hellmann’s and would be sold on the East Coast, while Best Foods would be sold in the West, using the same recipe.
This makes the product even more popular and salads a family favorite.
Phillip Sollomi was in vet school and worked in a restaurant to pay for school. After being drafted in the war, he realizes he prefers people to animals and decides to open a restaurant with his mom, called The Wish-Bone, using fried chicken as its selling point.
The restaurant is not popular, so he decides to add free salads with his mom’s special dressing recipe….what we know as Italian dressing. It is a hit and people want to bring it home, so Phillip sells it in mason jars.
The dressing becomes so popular that he decides to take it to the next level and sell it nationwide.
Steve Henson is in Alaska and trying to feed his hungry work crew. One day, he decides to make a sauce for the steaks, throwing together a few random ingredients and coming up with what we now know as Ranch dressing.
Phillip wants to sell his dressing and sees that Kraft is his big competition since they are the only ones selling dressings…..but none are like his Italian dressing. He decides to sell the restaurant and puts everything into the dressing.
To make it stand out, he sells it in a glass bottle with a long neck, shaped like a wishbone from a chicken.
It is released in the Midwest at 39 cents, while Kraft sells its own version for 29 cents. The dressing battle is ON!
Steve and his wife Gail move to California and open up a dude ranch. It struggles in the beginning, but once he begins using his dressing on the food, Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing is born!
Phillip decides to make a bold move and sells the dressing for a penny a bottle. This is a gamble that works and Wish-Bone is put on the map, adding more flavors of dressing. However, sales still aren’t where they want to be.
Steve and Gail begin giving away the dressing for guests to take home and wonder if selling it might be the better option.
One day, a guest wants dressing, but they are short on ingredients. He gives them the spices and recipe to make it at home, so he realizes that he can sell the dry mix and have people make it on their own at their own convenience.
It begins at a mail order promotion for the dude ranch in hopes of getting more business.
Wish-Bone is still struggling, so Phillip meets with an investor……from Lipton. They offer to buy Wish-Bone with Phillip staying on to make sure the product stays the same.
The Italian dressing is then promoted as a multi-use product for food and makes Wish-Bone as a hit.
The dude ranch closes, but the ranch packets are now sold via mail and in stores. Steve wants to exit the business, so he meets with the people at Clorox, who want to expand their business. They come up with a deal and Hidden Valley Ranch is in stores, while Steve retires and his son takes over the company.
They would then go on to figure out how to bottle ranch dressing….but it isn’t until Doritos comes out with a Cool Ranch flavor that ranch dressing became the country’s favorite dressing.
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