I used to be a younger culinary pupil over 20 years in the past in France, absorbing as a lot cooking data as I might and likewise touring when my pupil price range allowed. My classmate and buddy Sarah invited a bunch of us right down to her home in Provence one weekend, and naturally we couldn’t say no. Sarah was American however virtually French — she had married somebody French, had two children, and lived in Paris for over 20 years. Being a bunch of culinary college students, we after all grocery shopped and cooked collectively, and Sarah taught me a salad trick I nonetheless use at this time.

Sarah gave us free rein in her kitchen, opting to make a salad in order that she might get out of the best way. Dinner wouldn’t be for an additional hour or two, so I used to be stunned to see she was already prepping. I watched as she whisked collectively a traditional French dressing in a big serving bowl, then began including within the salad components. Once I requested Sarah why she was making the salad this far forward, she instructed me that she wasn’t really doing that. She was really making what I now dub a reverse salad.