Hoelzel Dressing

Last week my friend Dan challenged me to replicate the Duquesne Club's Hoelzel Dressing. He said he has had it made by others and, "it was not the same".

There are several Hoelzel recipes on the internet, similar but not the same as the version I used that came directly from the Duquesne Club and which appears in the Three Rivers Cookbook I.

The recipe is very simple: two parts olive oil to one part tarragon vinegar, salt and pepper. With such a simple formula, I wondered about Dan's comment. But then it occurred to me that with such a simple recipe, even a minor change in any of the ingredients could yield a very different result. So, this weekend I made three batches of Hoelzel: one with Italian olive oil (Partanna brand), one with Greek (Salonika) and one with Spanish (Zoe). For the vinegar, in all cases I used Roland brand White Wine Vinegar with Tarragon Sprig, and fresh ground pepper and sea salt.

Up to this point I have been using Italian (first Bertolli and then Colavita brands) and recently Zoe. But I had not been looking for differences among them. Now that I was, the Greek oil was definitely more green in color than the other two, but that was the only apparent difference. I was thinking that perhaps I had just made three dressings that would taste very much the same. I was wrong.

My daughter Rebecca had four college friends visiting, kids I had never met before and I am sure they came away thinking what an odd mother Rebecca has. But they were good sports about it and at least feigned some interest, or at least curiosity (about Rebecca's weird mom, perhaps??)

With no lump crab meat handy, we tried the three variations with bread and I think the consensus was more or less the following: All three varieties were very tart, but very good. The Greek variety had the most flavor; the Spanish the least. I think the Italian variety was the favorite, although I was partial to the Greek. Sorry, Spain.

A note to all my distant followers: The Duquesne Club is a very well known, exclusive city club in downtown Pittsburgh. Part of the history of Pittsburgh business and industry. Beautiful building and dining rooms, very old, very wood, very white male (although there are women members and minority members, too). Outstanding food; exquisite service. The dressing was developed in the 1940's and is named after member, John Hoelzel, who suggested it. It is traditionally served over lump crabmeat as an appetizer and I believe also available as a salad dressing.

I have written to the Executive Chef, Keith Coughenour, to try to identify the type of oil used. Of course, I suppose it is possible that a particular type of tarragon vinegar is the difference, but I doubt it. I will follow up with his reply.