What is this with "dipping?"

[Marlingardener]

I see ads on TV where everything from buffalo wings (bison don't fly) to pizza is dipped into a sauce. I just don't get it. If you want a sauce, put it on the food and use a fork.
Please explain!

 

[cookiecrafter]

Hard to eat finger foods with a fork.

 

[medtran49]

Buffalo wings have been served with a sauce(s), more buffalo sauce and/or blue cheese sauce, for as long as I remember. And they are eaten with your fingers, not a fork.

BTW, Buffalo, New York, is where the wings were first made. Nothing to do with bison/buffalo. The animal is what someone decided to use as their logo.

Crudites are finger foods and have always been served with a dipping sauce.

I have no idea why people want to put sauce on their pizza.

 

[dragnlaw]

Hard to eat finger foods with a fork.

Of course you can... why not?

I have no idea why people want to put sauce on their pizza.

It then becomes a type of flat bread, with some sort of tomato sauce, topped with crudities and drizzled with gravy.... this ain't pizza anymore, Toto

 

[pepperhead212]

Have you ever had chutneys with Indian foods? Most are served as dips. And then my favorite dip - guacamole.

 

[Aunt Bea]

I enjoy dipping, but I prefer to dip alone.

 

[GotGarlic]

Dipping doesn't sog up the food, like putting sauce on it would. For example, Chinese dumplings or fried chicken cutlets (katsu) wouldn't be as crunchy if the sauce was poured over them.

 

[msmofet]

Dipping doesn't sog up the food, like putting sauce on it would. For example, Chinese dumplings or fried chicken cutlets (katsu) wouldn't be as crunchy if the sauce was poured over them.

Also French fries.

 

[GotGarlic]

Also French fries.

Yup. Lots of delicious, crunchy things

 

[larry_stewart]

Occasionally for dinner we will have "Chicken Nuggets" with multiple dipping sauces ( marinara, Ranch, cheese, BBQ ...). Gives a nice variety and can choose what you're in the mood for. I always use my fingers.

 

[Phaedra]

What I really dislike about dipping is double-dipping, when there is one bowl of dip for all at the table, and someone dips a piece of food in - bites off the bit that has the sauce on it, and then dips the rest of the food back in the bowl.

It's fine if you do it at home when it's just your own family, but I've seen it at weddings and other functions, where guests are in mixed groups.

 

[larry_stewart]

What I really dislike about dipping is double-dipping, when there is one bowl of dip for all at the table, and someone dips a piece of food in - bites off the bit that has the sauce on it, and then dips the rest of the food back in the bowl.

It's fine if you do it at home when it's just your own family, but I've seen it at weddings and other functions, where guests are in mixed groups.

I agree. When I go to parties or events, I'm kinda picky on what I'll eat keeping in mind that many people are ' contaminating' the food. I remember years ago, when all the kids in my extended family were young, my brothers kids were always sick with colds and whatever. After wiping their runny noses with their hands, they should then dig into all the bows of chips, veggies and dip .... My kids would always come home sick after a family outing with them.

 

[medtran49]

What I really dislike about dipping is double-dipping, when there is one bowl of dip for all at the table, and someone dips a piece of food in - bites off the bit that has the sauce on it, and then dips the rest of the food back in the bowl.

It's fine if you do it at home when it's just your own family, but I've seen it at weddings and other functions, where guests are in mixed groups.

I was under the impression that double dipping was considered extremely rude in polite society and wasn't done anymore. I've never seen anyone doing it in years. What I see is people spooning some dip onto their plate or bowl, grabbing their dippers and happily double dipping (or not) from their own personal supply. Guess I move in a different world than most.

 

[dragnlaw]

medtran, I'm with you on that. If I serve a dipping sauce I also supply multiple little bowls for people to put their sauce in.

I also agree that some things should not have dip/gravy/sauce "poured" over them. Not all though, there are many that benefit.

Look at Poutine, my best loved example. You need that hot gravy to melt the cheese curds into long stringy messy pieces of cheese stretching from fork to plate with a fry hanging on to it all, and all covered with gravy.

 

[blissful]

The last picnic we had with others we brought some date paste (like caramel sauce) for dipping apple slices in. We served it with a spoon so that each person could spoon some date paste onto their plate.
At home we have little sauce dishes for putting on our plates, 2-3 inches across if there is a sauce. For cauliflower wings (like chicken wings) we serve the sauce with a spoon from the jar. Mr bliss likes more, and spoons it over the wings, I like it with less and put it on my plate on the side.

 

[Phaedra]

I was under the impression that double dipping was considered extremely rude in polite society and wasn't done anymore. I've never seen anyone doing it in years. What I see is people spooning some dip onto their plate or bowl, grabbing their dippers and happily double dipping (or not) from their own personal supply. Guess I move in a different world than most.

I have to admit that I don't know about now, as I've been unable to attend such things for some years now, but it was quite common in the days that I did, and I would be very happy to know that it doesn't happen any more.

Another thing that wasn't uncommon in those days was to see people using their own spoons to take things from a large communal bowl, instead of using the serving spoon that was in the bowl.

 

[Phaedra]

Look at Poutine, my best loved example. You need that hot gravy to melt the cheese curds into long stringy messy pieces of cheese stretching from fork to plate with a fry hanging on to it all, and all covered with gravy.

I've never had the pleasure of trying Poutine

 

[dragnlaw]

This photo is from a restaurant in Quebec, called Lafleur's. A franchise with 13 restaurants in Montreal. Just a Hot Dog and Hamburger, also serves breakfast now, (and I think there's chicken in there somewhere)
But there are firm believer's that only Lafleur's serves up the best Poutine anywhere! Another franchise in Quebec is LaBelle Province - WITH, to my mind, the best greasy french fries EVER! top them with poutine special gravy and cheese curds - undeniable.
It seems hard to get the cheese to melt just right today (my opinion) that the curds have become so popular that something has change in the process.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Yeah, if I serve something that has a dip, which we love btw and not poured over things, I have small soy sauce dishes that I put on the plate for each diner along with said dipper.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Oh, I do use a fork to dip my katsu into some sauce, I don’t usually use my fingers, although we have been known to eat katsu animal style