What do you call it?

[Debi]

I always thought dressing was something you poured over food,as in salad dressing.I thought stuffing was something you put inside something else.

Yes, that is salad dressing. However, dressing as a side dish is stuffing not cooked with in the bird. Multi-use word there.

 

[qwynie Rose]

Yes, that is salad dressing. However, dressing as a side dish is stuffing not cooked with in the bird. Multi-use word there.

Man, I am loving this thread, somthing so simple as stuffing/dressing ... it's classed as stuffing here whether in or out of the bird. But it's interesting to see who thinks what.

 

[Lynne]

What are the odds.....?

As seniors at my high school, guys were required to take a short (six weeks?) home economics class. The teacher was a very old lady (probably my age now) who was a stickler for proper kitchen terminology. She would correct us when we'd use the wrong term....cup v. mug, stir v. mix, butter v. margarine, etc. She was particularly keen in making sure we knew the difference between dressing and stuffing. She explained "stuffing" was what went into the bird, while "dressing" was prepared separately, usually in a casserole or baking dish. The fact the two might have exactly the same ingredients, even come from the same mixing bowl, was irrelevant.

What set her off was the introduction of "Stove Top Stuffing," which she insisted should have been branded as "Stove Top Dressing."

Amen! Finally an answer I can understand. THANK YOU. I finally get it. Until now I used both terms interchangeably.

 

[L.S.]

stuffing

 

[garnetsilver]

Duke, your teacher sounds like the one I had in high school. It must have been hard on her trying to teach a bunch of uninterested teens about cooking and proper terminology! I remember her asking one guy in class, to give an example of an accompaniment to a main course, and he looked puzzled and said, "A company mint?" We laughed so hard.