Thousand Island dressing facts for kids
Thousand Island dressing on a salad
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| Type | Salad dressing or condiment |
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| Place of origin | United States |
| Main ingredients | Mayonnaise, olive oil, lemon juice, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, vinegar, eggs, cream, chili sauce, tomato purée or ketchup |
| 370 calories per 100g/ 111 per 2 teaspoons ( 30g) kcal | |
Thousand Island dressing is a popular creamy sauce from the United States. People often use it on salads, but it's also great on sandwiches and as a dip. It's a type of condiment, which is something added to food to give it more flavor.
This dressing starts with a base of mayonnaise. Other common ingredients include olive oil, lemon juice, paprika, and a bit of tomato (like ketchup or tomato purée). What makes it special are the tiny chopped bits inside! These can be chopped pickles, onions, bell peppers, or even hard-boiled eggs. Sometimes you'll find parsley, olives, or chives too. These ingredients give it a unique texture and taste.
Contents
Where Did Thousand Island Dressing Come From?
The name "Thousand Island dressing" comes from the Thousand Islands region. This beautiful area is located along the Saint Lawrence River between the United States and Canada. There are a few different stories about how this dressing got its name.
- One popular story says a fishing guide's wife, Sophia LaLonde, made the dressing. She prepared it for her husband George's special "shore dinners." A famous actress named May Irwin supposedly loved it so much that she asked for the recipe.
- Another story involves George Boldt, who owned the famous Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. He also built Boldt Castle in the Thousand Islands. Some say he told his hotel's head waiter, Oscar Tschirky, to add the dressing to the menu around 1894. This happened after Boldt forgot dressing for salads and used what was available. However, Tschirky didn't mention the dressing in his own cookbook, which makes this story a bit uncertain.
People have tried to find the real origin of the dressing. In 2010, a group of researchers from the University of Wisconsin–Madison looked into it. They found that the stories were different in various towns and islands in the Thousand Islands region. They even found a third story! This one suggested the recipe came from French dressing. All these stories were passed down by word of mouth, so there aren't many old written records to prove them.
Some food experts believe the dressing was a traditional sauce in the Thousand Islands region in the late 1800s. Wealthy visitors to the area would take bottles of this local sauce back to New York City. One version, called Sophia's Sauce, was found at a local hotel in Clayton, New York.
Another idea is that a chef named Theo Rooms invented the dressing. He worked at the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago. The first time Thousand Island dressing was mentioned in print was in 1912. Recipes for different versions of the dressing then started appearing all over the U.S.
How Is It Used Today?
Thousand Island dressing is very common in fast-food restaurants and diners in the United States. You might hear it called "special sauce" or "secret sauce." For example, In-N-Out Burger uses a version of it called "spread" on their burgers.
It's also often used in a Reuben sandwich. Sometimes it takes the place of Russian dressing in this classic sandwich. The famous McDonald's Big Mac sauce is also a variation of Thousand Island dressing.
Similar Sauces Around the World
- In Sweden, there's a similar salad dressing called Rhode Island dressing (Rhode islandsås). It was introduced by a Swedish chef named Tore Wretman. It's very popular there, but it has no real connection to Rhode Island in the U.S.
- In Germany, a similar salad dressing is known as "American dressing."
See also
In Spanish: Salsa mil islas para niños
