Skip to main content

For Find Out Friday - Who Put the Ranch in Hidden Valley?


With Super Bowl Sunday approaching this weekend, is there a better time to talk about dip and chips? 

I think not. 

When I am not watching a true crime show (which is most of the time) the odds are  high that I am catching up on “Food: Fact or Fiction?”. Host Michael McKean tells us the true stories behind the foods we love (episode is first link below). 

Last week he shared a tidbit about one of the most beloved products in American history: ranch dressing. 

I was stunned by what I learned and knew I had to explore this story further on my own. 

Turns out ranch dressing was created on a ranch. Mind blowing, I know.

And the brand that is the most popular and captivated the market is of course Hidden Valley Ranch. 

So if ranch dressing was created on a ranch, can you guess the name of the ranch?

Yes, it is Hidden Valley. 

Hidden Valley Ranch was purchased in the 1950s by Steve and Gayle Henson and is located in Santa Barbara, California. Formerly known as Sweetwater Ranch, the couple renamed after making it their home. 

The ranch was a working dude ranch and Steve had long been working on a homemade dressing that he would put on the salads he served his employees. This tradition started in the late 1940s when he was working as plumber in Alaska. When the couple purchased their own ranch, his dressing soon became the stuff of legends. 

A combination of mayonnaise or buttermilk, dill, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, and other herbs, proved to make the vegetable eating process MUCH more enjoyable. 

Soon friends were asking Steve for packets of his herb mix so that they could bring it home, add in their own dairy, and eat as much salad as they could get their hands on.

Before he knew it, Steve was selling his packets and even purchased a mail order business so that he could ship the good stuff to his customers anywhere in the country. His son Nolan remembers his childhood filled with days of creating those very packets. 

By 1972 Steve had sold his brand to the Clorox company for eight million dollars which is the equivalent to forty-eight million dollars in today’s money. Personally I think he could have held out for more.

The success of the mix increased greatly in 1983 when a bottled version, which has a shelf life of one hundred and fifty days, was created. By the late 1980s ranch was a dip and in 1986 Cool Ranch Doritos were launched. In my humble opinion they are the single greatest invention in the culinary world, or rather the scientific world. As of 2017 the products associated with this brand raked in over four hundred and fifty million dollars.

Today, ranch in its many forms it well ingrained in pop culture and our lives. People are getting kegs and fountains of the stuff for their wedding receptions as well as buying giant inflatable ranch bottles as pool floats. 

Hidden Valley Ranch has over fifty products including several varieties of the dressing available with bacon, avocado, and jalapeño added in. We love it on our popcorn, chicken wings, crudités, and especially on our pizza. I realized just how much when I visited the Museum of Pizza (https://bit.ly/2rsOJMK) late last year and there was a shaker of Hidden Valley Ranch on every table for our complimentary slice.

In yet another moment of pure serendipity, Matt Hyland of “Emmy Squared” (see previous post) loves ranch dressing so much his restaurant features a pizza where that is the main ingredient.  

Taking that theme a step further there is a restaurant in St. Louis, Missouri completely devoted to dishes with ranch in them. It is called “Twisted Ranch” and serves over thirty kinds of ranch dressing. I hope they open a location in New York City soon.

Sadly, the actual Hidden Valley Ranch was sold in the 1970s. Otherwise you would have bet your bottom dollar I would have been half way through planning my visit there. 

Instead I am going to head into the kitchen and pour a bit on ranch dressing on a dish and find something yummy to dip in it.

For More Information:

(Hidden Valley Ranch segment begins at the fourteen minute mark.)





Comments

Popular posts from this blog

For Find Out Friday - Why Do Emery Boards Make My Skin Crawl?

You know that sound a fingernail makes when it scratches against a chalkboard?  You know that feeling the sound of that action gives you? I, like most people, hate that sound.  I instantly feel like scrunching my shoulders up to my neck and closing my eyes.  I feel the exact same way when I am using an emery board to file my nails. This annoying sensation has a name: “grima” which is Spanish for disgust or uneasiness. This term basically describes any feeling of being displeased, annoyed, or dissatisfied someone or something.  It is a feeling that psychologists are starting to pay more attention to as it relates to our other emotions.  Emery boards are traditionally made with cardboard that has small grains of sand adhered to them. It is the sandpaper that I believe makes me filled with grima.  According to studies that are being done around the world, it is not just the feeling that we associate with certain things like nails on a chalkboard or by using emery boards

For My Madness During Migraine Awareness Month

Last weekend as I sat staring at the blank page in front of me, I was still surprised and elated that I had an entire day to myself and unlike past experiences it was filled with what I wanted when I wanted it. There were a few rough moments but when I consider the previous twelve hours (and the days to come) have been better than the last week. Especially this last week even though I had braced myself ahead of time, I just didn’t know I should have braced for a more serious episode. I am a chronic migraine sufferer for so many years I don’t quite remember when they started exactly which is ironic because I can remember every special event they have ruined. I remember plays or dinners I was at where I don’t remember what happened but I could tell you what I felt minute by minute. It amazing how the mind works, especially when it’s operated by a migraine brain. In the last few years, specifically the last few years since I have been going to the Montefiore Headac

For Find Out Friday - Why is One Foot More Ticklish Than the Other?

As I sit here typing I can’t seem to stop thinking about my nails. Mainly that they REALLY need to get done. They are starting to chip and become unruly. As soon I as think about making an appointment my mind immediately returns to this question: “which of my feet will be ticklish this time?” Because I am a girl that needs her fingernails and toenails to match, I always get a pedicure whenever I get my nails done. And while this should be an activity I enjoy, it often feels like a chore, despite my going only once every three to four weeks. I know; #firstworldproblems.  Anyway, each and every time I get my toes done, as soon as they are done soaking in the bubbly water I wonder, which of my feet will be ticklish today?  Without fail one of them always seems to get the brunt of it and suddenly what was supposed to be a relaxing activity has made me all tense. So, is there a scientific reason for this?  According to most research, yes. While the answer doesn’t