In one of the hottest hot takes in recent memory, Ben Adler, an environmental politics and policy writer at Grist, wrote that ranch dressing is “what’s wrong with America,” and that upscale restaurants should “stop experimenting with this revolting milk-rot” at once. And that’s all before Adler even gets past the article’s subhead.
This unprovoked attack against one of the nation’s most beloved toppings ran on Tuesday in the Washington Post—a paper that has won 47 Pulitzer Prizes, exposed the Watergate scandal in the 1970s, and has apparently become comfortable publishing baseless slander against creamy condiments.
Like all takedowns, Adler’s issue with ranch stems from the fact that the dressing is having “a moment.” A mixture of buttermilk, salt, garlic, and other herbs and spices, ranch dressing was first invented in the 1950s by Steve Henson, the owner of Hidden Valley Ranch in Santa Barbara, California. While Henson and his wife, Gayle, turned their recipe into one of the most popular dressing companies in the country, in recent years ranch has indeed started work its way into some more high-end dining establishments.
Still, Adler apparently can’t handle ranch’s success, hating on the dressing for propagating “faddish philistinism.” Unsurprisingly, the Internet didn’t take kindly to Adler’s position, savaging the writer in the Washington Post’s comments section, and continue to profess their undying love for some creamy ranch on social media. Not since the New York Times suggested putting peas in guacamole has a paper of record made such a culinary sin.
You can add this L to your trophy case, Washington Post.
[via Grub Street]