The captious vegetarian

Both Derek and I love Annie’s goddess dressing.  It’s a tahini-based dressing that’s savory and rich, and very satisfying.  Annie’s is not sold in Germany, so I’ve decided to try to figure out how to make something similar myself.   I searched around on the web for a while, and came across this taste test from the San Francisco Chronicle that shows that Annie’s Goddess dressing is indeed better than knockoffs by Trader Joe’s and other companies.  The result of the taste test didn’t surprise me, but it did worry me a bit–if Trader Joe’s can’t replicate Annie’s dressing, why do I think I have a shot?

I looked around some more on the web, trying to find a copycat recipe.  Although I found tons of posts where people were asking for the recipe, I could find only one post on recipezaar where someone actually attempted to replicate the original. Although the recipe is rated well, it doesn’t seem to follow the constraints given by the Annie’s ingredient list; I decided not to follow this recipe, but rather to try to figure it out on my own.

The bottle lists twelve ingredients: Canola Oil, Water, Tahini, Apple Cider Vinegar, Soy Sauce (water, soybeans, sea salt wheat), Lemon Juice, Sea Salt, Garlic, Sesame Seeds, Parsley, Chives, Xanthan Gum. I looked at the order of ingredients in the ingredient and the nutritional data to try to figure out how much of each ingredient to use.

Here’s what I tried in my first attempt:

• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 4 Tbs. water
• 3.67 Tbs. tahini
• 1.5 Tbs. apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp. soy sauce
• 1 tsp. lemon juice [+1 Tbs. to fix it]
• 1 tsp. fine salt
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1/2 Tbs. sesame seeds
• 1 Tbs. parsley [+ more to fix it]
• 1 Tbs. chives

We tasted it before adding the parsley, chives, or garlic, and it tasted overwhelmingly of tahini, and was very salty.  After I added the parsley it definitely tasted more like Annie’s, although the tahini taste was still way to strong.  We added another tablespoon of lemon juice, and more parsley, which helped cut the tahini and salt a bit. Although the dressing was tasty on our salad, it still wasn’t right.  On my second try:

• 6.5 Tablespoons canola oil
• 4 Tbs. water
• 2 Tbs. tahini
• 2 Tbs. apple cider vinegar [+ more to fix it]
• 1 Tbs. soy sauce
• 1 Tbs. lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp. fine salt
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tsp. sesame seeds
• 2 Tbs. parsley
• 1 Tbs. chives

After tasting it my first thought was “too much soy sauce”!  It wasn’t too salty, just too briny and fermented.  I tried adding more parsley and vinegar to cover up the soy sauce taste, but then it just tasted even more fermented, as well as too acidic.  The tahini flavor wasn’t very strong at all.  This batch was worse than the last one.  I had to cut it with half vinegar to reduce the intensity enough that I wanted to eat it.

My friend Katrina came to visit this week, and we (plus Derek) took a weekend trip to Geneva to visit my friend Kathy. I suggested we try to make this dressing, figuring that four minds (and tongues) would be better than one. We started out with this recipe:

• 55 grams canola oil (about 4 Tablespoons) [+ 1 more Tbs. to fix]
• 4 Tablespoons water [+ 2 more Tbs. to thin]
• 60 grams Cortas Tahini (about 3.75 Tablespoons)
• 1 Tbs. apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. tamari
• 1 Tbs. lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• no sesame seeds
• 1.33 Tbs. parsley [+ 1 Tbs. to fix]
• no chives

At this point it tasted a lot like Annie’s, according to Derek.  The texture seemed a bit thick, and it was missing the chive/onion taste, and the parsley flavor was too mild.  So we added another 1 Tbs. canola oil, a pinch of minced red onions, 2 Tbs. of water, and another Tablespoon of chopped parsley.  When I tasted it I thought it tasted pretty good, but that the tahini flavor was actually too weak, and still there wasn’t quite enough parsley flavor.  When we ate it on the salad, I thought it was good, and definitely closer to Annie’s. However, it tasted slightly watered down, and not as salty as the real thing.  Surprisingly, I couldn’t taste much tahini flavor either.  I think the final 2 Tbs. of water was too much.

The tahini you choose will affect this recipe significantly.  In this attempt we used Cortas tahini from Geneve.  It is smooth and not too bitter, and not very roasted tasting.  In 32 grams / 2 Tbs. it contained 240 calories, 19 grams of fat, 5 mg of salt, 6 grams of protein, and 4% each of iron and calcium.

On my last attempt I’m used the following plan:

• 5 Tbs. canola oil
• 4 Tbs. water
• 3 Tbs. tahini (add more if needed, depending on brand)
• 1.5 Tbs. apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. tamari
• 1 Tbs. lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. fine salt
• 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
• 1.5 tsp. sesame seeds
• 2 Tbs. minced parsley
• 1 Tbs. chives

I tasted this and it tasted good, but when tasted right after Annie’s it didn’t taste quite as good.  I couldn’t put my finger on what the difference was.  Annie’s tasted slightly oilier maybe, and less acidic.  Derek thought Annie’s tasted saltier and more lemon-y.  When we put the dressing on the salad, it didn’t taste like Annie’s at all.  It was really watered down tasting.  Next time I want to use less water, more salt or soy sauce, and double check that the amounts are actually in descending order by weight, according to the Annie’s ingredient list.