Vinaigrette

Method

1. whisk1 min
   small bowl, before any oil
   vinegar + mustard + salt + pepper (+ minced shallot, + honey), until the salt has dissolved — salt dissolves in the acid and not in the oil, and a vinaigrette built oil-first stays gritty no matter how long it is whisked
2. emulsify2 min
   drop by drop at first, then a thin stream
   + olive oil, whisking hard the whole time, until the mixture turns opaque and thickens enough to coat the whisk. Mustard is doing the work: its mucilage and lecithin coat each oil droplet so they cannot re-merge. Add the oil faster than the whisk can break it up and the droplets coalesce — the sauce stays translucent and splits within a minute
3. season1 min
   on a leaf, not a spoon
   to taste, judged on something you will actually dress — a vinaigrette tasted alone reads far too sharp, because there is no water and no starch to dilute it. If it needs softening add oil, not sugar
4. store1 min
   sealed jar, room temperature
   for up to a day; longer belongs in the refrigerator, where the olive oil will cloud and partly solidify. It separates eventually whatever you do — shake it back together, since the mustard is still there and the emulsion re-forms