The culinary star of any Super Bowl is meat, usually chicken or ribs, but the focal point is some form of dip, because everything goes into it: meat, chips, pretzels, nachos, even (God forbid) vegetables. Traditional dips like onion, ranch and blue cheese all have one thing in common — they give eaters a blast of umami, that savory, mouth-watering flavor found in soy sauce, mushrooms, seaweed and many cheeses.
Although I like the flavor of some commercial dips, I’ve found that they tend to give you a queasy feeling, the food equivalent of a hangover. I prefer to make my own scratch dip, starting with a garlicky, lemony mayonnaise and piling on the flavor with tart sour cream, fragrant mushroom oil, sharp chives or scallions and savory grated cheese.
This recipe calls for porcini oil, which can be found at many gourmet food stores. If you can’t find porcini oil, use black or white truffle oil. A concentrated mushroom oil gives the dip a strong fragrance, so you can “taste the smell,” as we say in the food business.
Mushroom Parmesan Dip
Makes about 2 cups
Ingredients
Zest and juice of 2 lemons
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2 egg yolks
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups neutral oil
Few shots hot sauce
2 tablespoons sour cream
4 tablespoons minced chives or finely sliced scallions
1 cup grated Parmesan, Asiago or Pecorino cheese
3-4 tablespoons porcini or truffle oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Directions
Place the lemon zest and juice, vinegar, egg yolks, minced garlic, salt and freshly ground pepper in the bowl of a food processor and blend well. Slowly add the neutral oil to emulsify. Transfer the sauce to a mixing bowl and fold in the other ingredients. The finished sauce should have the consistency of sour cream. If it’s too thick, whisk in a tablespoon or two of warm water. Taste for seasoning.
Keep refrigerated until ready to use.
