I've had so many tasty salad dressings at Swiss-German restaraunts. I've searched online and haven't really had any luck finding authentic recipes for the typical delicious French and Italian dressings served at these type of restaraunts.
Don't have an exact recipe, but experiment with olive oil, basamic vinegar, mayonnaise, mustard and some seasoning (salt, pepper and some fresh herbs). You can also add crushed garlic and chopped shallots. Just taste as you go along!
Good beginning, but there's much more than just olive oil and balsamic vinegar. In practically every village with more than a few hundred inhabitants you can find all sorts of vinegars and oils.
Other ingredients to experiment with besides various kinds of vinegars and oils: yoghurt (to replace some of the vinegar), lemon juice (same), vegetable or beef stock (!).
And besides all the variety those ingredients already provide, I always add something sweet. I have no sweet tooth (professional reasons), but a little bit of sweetness can beef up every salad dressing. I use various kinds of honey but also enjoy the great variety of fruit syrups readily available at just about every grocery store worth its name in this country. Unlike syrups in the USA, they all are very easily soluble.
Mustard is an essential ingredient because of its emulsifying properties. I assume the same goes for mayonnaise, but I never use that.
I use apples & cucumbar. For dressing i use yoghurt + cumin powder & a little bit of salt (if you like). I & my family found it's very tasty. We sometimes just eat it as a snack.
My personal recipe is always the same, some vinegar, lots of olive oil and finally some soy-sauce, a bit of mayonnaise and Muscat-nut may even improve it
Classic French & Italian salad dressings are very simply to make. Each restaurant starts off with the basic recipe and then adds little personal touches like a different oil or vinegar and a variety of herbs. Follow this recipe as a guide:
For Italian, substitute the white wine vinegar for red wine vinegar. You could use Balsamic but in restaurants/hotels the classic recipe is with red wine vinegar.