Advertisement We don’t understand either, but it’s also hard to fathom how this perfectly reasonable question was used as a laugh line on “Seinfeld” years ago. (It was asked by Elaine’s lug of a boyfriend Puddy; she tried to break up with him in the same scene.)
When did dip become a joke? Clearly it was after the great dip rush of the early ’50s, which began when a recipe for clam dip presented on television’s “Kraft Music Hall” caused such excitement that the next day New York City sold out of canned clams.
On the other coast, in 1952, a California housewife mixed an envelope of Lipton’s onion soup mix into sour cream and set off a similar craze. According to Jean Anderson’s “The American Century Cookbook: The Most Popular Recipes of the 20th Century,” “Word of the new dip spread through Los Angeles faster than a canyon fire, newspapers printed the recipe, onion soup mix sales soared, and Lipton executives, a continent away in New Jersey, were ecstatic. They tracked down the recipe, perfected it, and beginning in 1958, printed it on every box of Lipton Recipe Secrets Onion Soup Mix.” It was known as California Dip.
According to Anderson, though, dip had been around for some time. Mrs. Woodrow Wilson made a version of clam dip for her husband (she jotted the recipe down on a notecard between 1915 and 1921).
Anderson’s own mother had a pretty extensive collection dating from the early ’40s, when James Beard published his first cookbook, “Hors d’Oeuvre and Canapes.” Potato chips, pretzels, vegetables and crackers were all acceptable “dunkers,” as Beard referred to them.
The Golden Age of Dip lasted well into the ’80s, when cookouts and cocktail parties across America included such classics as French onion, hot crab, ranch and various cheese dips, such as Roquefort sour cream.
But what was once a homemade specialty was now mass-produced, and more easily available. We kind of overdid it, until dip and chips took on a junk-food status.
It was a dark time, when a person had to sneak around just to eat a whole container of grocery store dip with a bag of Ruffles.
But today no one would frown on Carol Murphy Clyne, visiting instructor at the Culinary Institute of America, in Hyde Park, N.Y., for having an extra serving of the modern version of chips and dips she recently enjoyed at chef Thomas Keller’s restaurant, Per Se, in New York City.
“My husband and I had chips thinly sliced on a mandoline, with black truffle oil and a delicious creme fraiche dip,” she said. “It was a little snack to go with drinks before dinner.”
And that little snack, Clyne said — fresh, simple, a bit exotic — is representative of a new era.
Today, it’s plain to see that a revolution has been taking place, one that embraces all dunkers and dips. Once described by John F. Mariani (in his 1983 “Dictionary of American Food and Drink“) as “a condiment, often made with mayonnaise or sour cream, into which one dips any of a variety of vegetables or snacks,” a dip — and its dunkers — is not so easily defined today.
The dip-and-chip combo of the 21st century has evolved, reflecting international culinary influences and a new sophistication and ease.
“When you go to a store (like Whole Foods) now,” said Clyne, who teaches a popular tapas class at C.I.A., “there are so many dips that are freshly made and natural, with fewer preservatives, the way you’d prepare them at home: tapenades, bean dips and the Greek-yogurt based dips. And that’s what people want: a relaxed casual food that’s also delicious and good for you.”
According to the trade publication Refrigerated & Frozen Foods Retailer, dips and spreads are “on fire.” Hummus (a chickpea and sesame paste dip) is on its way to becoming the new salsa. (It doubled in sales in the last half decade and now has sales of $390 million.) And the dip/spread category, according to a recent ACNielsen group report, is one of the fastest growing food categories in the supermarket.
We’re making such a satisfying array — Middle Eastern eggplant dips, Tuscan roasted vegetables, Mexican salsas and guacamole, Greek tzatziki, not to mention the bean and fish dips from practically every country — that a person would not seem like an oddball serving dip for dinner, with crudites, or toasted pita squares or good French bread.
“You could live on hummus, and do very well,” Clyne said.
Our defense of dip delivered, it must now be said that the old-fashioned American “party dip,” as it was once called — made with mayonnaise or sour cream, or cream cheese — is still often what we dream about when we dream about dip: Visions of clam dip on giant Fritos still come to us late at night.
Which is fine. It takes all kinds of dips and dippers to keep the revolution going.
Roasted Red Pepper Dip
3 large red bell peppers
2 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1/2 to 1 cup ricotta cheese, drained
1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt
Heat broiler or grill. Roast the peppers and garlic cloves on a foil-covered broiler rack, turning as needed, until skins blacken on all sides, about 30 minutes. Place peppers in a small brown paper bag (or place in a bowl; cover with plastic wrap) until cool. Remove skin and seeds. Place peppers in bowl of a food processor; squeeze roasted garlic out of skins into the bowl. Pulse until nearly pureed. Add ½ cup of the ricotta cheese and salt to taste; pulse until well blended, adding more cheese, if needed for dipping consistency. Try it with Italian toasted bread slices or your favorite chip. Makes 3/4 cup.
Nutrition information per tablespoon: 31 calories, 38 percent of calories from fat, 1 gram fat, 1 gram saturated fat, 5 milligrams cholesterol, 3 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams protein, 107 milligrams sodium, 1 gram fiber.
BLT Dip
4 slices bacon
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup each: mayonnaise, low-fat Greek yogurt
1/4 cup arugula, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 pint grape tomatoes, quartered
Place the bacon in a medium skillet over medium heat; cook, turning, until crisp, about 6 minutes. Transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel. Combine the onions, mayonnaise, yogurt, arugula, salt and pepper to taste in a food processor; pulse until chunky, about 5 times. Transfer to a medium bowl. Crumble the bacon into the bowl; stir into the mayonnaise mixture. Stir in the tomatoes. Serve with pita crisps, kettle chips or toast points made from very thin slices of bread brushed with olive oil. Makes 3 cups.
Nutrition information per tablespoon: 13 calories, 78 percent of calories from fat, 1 gram fat, 0 grams saturated fat, 1 milligram cholesterol, 0 grams carbohydrates, 0 grams protein, 32 milligrams sodium, 0 grams fiber.
Creamy Basil-Onion Dip
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2/3 cup light mayonnaise
1/3 cup low-fat yogurt, preferably Greek
1/4 cup finely chopped basil
Freshly ground pepper
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat; add the onion. Cook, stirring often, until caramelized, about 30 minutes. Add the garlic and vinegar; cook, stirring, until garlic softens, about 5 minutes. Pour the onion-garlic mixture into a small bowl; stir in the mayonnaise, yogurt, basil and pepper to taste. Refrigerate 30 minutes. Makes about 1 cup.
Nutrition information per tablespoon: 56 calories, 79 percent of calories from fat, 5 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 4 mg cholesterol, 3 g carbohydrates, 0 g protein, 87 mg sodium, 0 g fiber
Bean and Ham Dip with Garlic and Rosemary
4 cloves garlic
2 sprigs, rosemary, leaves removed,½ chopped
1/2 red onion, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup coarsely chopped, smoked ham
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
2 cans (15 ounces each) cannellini or navy beans, drained, rinsed
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
Freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Place garlic, rosemary, onion, ham and red pepper flakes in a food processor; pulse to finely chop. Add beans, salt and pepper to taste. Slowly add olive oil with motor running until beans are pureed and a spreadable consistency, about 1 minute. Adjust seasoning. Spread over slices of toasted baguette. Makes 1 1/2 cups.
Nutrition information per tablespoon: 55 calories, 44 percent of calories from fat, 3 grams fat, 0 grams saturated fat, 3 milligrams cholesterol, 5 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams protein, 116 milligrams sodium, 1 gram fiber.
Chinese Eggplant Dip
1 firm eggplant
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 piece (1-inch long) ginger root, minced
1 green onion, minced, plus 1 tablespoon sliced green onion tops for garnish
1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons each: soy sauce, packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon hot water
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
Heat oven to 475 degrees. Prick eggplant with a fork; place in a baking dish. Bake, turning once, until the eggplant gives easily when pressed with a spoon, 20 to 40 minutes, depending on size; cool. Cut off eggplant’s stem end; cut eggplant in half lengthwise. Peel; drain off any liquid. Cut eggplant into large chunks; puree in food processor or blender. Set aside.
Combine the garlic, ginger, minced green onions and red pepper flakes in a small bowl; set aside. Combine the soy, sugar, water and vinegar in a medium bowl, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Heat a wok or large skillet over high heat; add the vegetable oil, swirling to glaze pan. Lower heat to medium. Add the garlic mixture; stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the soy-sugar mixture; heat, stirring, to a boil around the edges. Stir in the eggplant; heat through. Adjust for seasoning if desired. Stir in the sesame oil. Spoon eggplant mixture into a serving bowl. Cool; cover tightly. Refrigerate 2 hours or overnight. Sprinkle sliced green onion rings on top. Makes 1 1/2 cups.
Nutrition information per serving: 25 calories, 46 percent of calories from fat, 1 gram fat, 0 grams saturated fat, 0 milligrams cholesterol, 3 grams carbohydrates, 0 grams protein, 165 milligrams sodium, 1 gram fiber.
