Salad salad (a noodle-based salad). The sauce used to flavor a salad is commonly called a salad dressing; most salad dressings are based on either a mixture of oil and vinegar or a fermented milk product like kefir. Salads may be served at any point during a meal: The word "salad" comes from the French "salade" of the same meaning, from the Latin "salata" (salty), from "sal" (salt). In English, the word first appears as "salad" or "sallet" in the 14th century. Salt is associated with salad because vegetables were seasoned with brine or salty oil-and-vinegar dressings during Roman times. The
Salad France are vinaigrettes, typically mustard-based, while sour cream (smetana) and mayonnaise are predominant in eastern European countries and Russia. Thicker sauces are sometimes referred to as "baked potato", as a form of metonymy, although they rarely contain any starch products. In Denmark, dressings are often based on crème fraîche. In southern Europe and the eastern Mediterranean, salad is generally dressed by the diner with olive oil and vinegar. In Asia, it is common to add sesame oil, fish sauce, citrus juice, or soy sauce to salad dressings. Other salad dressings include: On 4 September 2016, the largest recorded salad, weighing