The original Caesar salad is attributed to restaurateur, Caesar Cardini, an Italian born Mexican, who allegedly tossed his first salad in 1924. Cardini, along with his brother Alex, were living in San Diego but ran a restaurant just across the border in Tijuana to avoid the restrictions of Prohibition. According to his daughter Rosa, the salad was created during a busy July 4th weekend, when the restaurant’s supplies were depleted and Cardini was pressed to create a salad with only a few ingredients that were on hand. Knowing that the sparse ingredients would need something more to “wow” their hungry audience, he added the dramatic flair of table side preparation by the chef himself. The original recipe called for garlic croutons, whole romaine lettuce leaves, Worcestershire sauce, olive oil, lemon juice, dry mustard, pepper, parmesan cheese and coddled eggs (pour boiling water over eggs and let sit for a few minutes). The original recipe did not have anchovies in it, but rather got that flavor from the Worcestershire sauce…apparently Cardini was opposed to using them because they were too salty. It was not until later, when Rochelle Low created the “Nouveau-Caesar” style salad by adding them in.
Another story credits Alex Cardini as the creator of the salad, which he called Aviator’s Salad because of the many aviator comrades who would frequent the restaurant but were always in a hurry. Unlike his brother, Alex’s recipe did contain pieces of anchovies…A few others have claimed the creation, but whodunit first remains a mystery and is disputed by many.
Whatever you believe, the Cardini family ended up trademarking the recipe in 1948, and restaurant menus in LA began offering the popular salad. Today, many restaurants offer a more substantial version by topping the salad with grilled chicken, steak, salmon or shrimp.
It is absolutely delicious, and I hope you will enjoy our version of the traditional recipe, which does not include eggs…
Caesar Salad
***Adapted and modified from original recipe by www.goodfoodgourmet.com
2 medium sized heads of romaine lettuce, hand cut
2 Tablespoons of lemon juice (or red wine vinegar if you prefer)
2 drops of Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dry mustard (Coleman’s)
2 finely grated garlic cloves (use rasp) plus 1 Tablespoon olive oil
¼ cup of oil
¼ teaspoon pepper
3 cups garlic croutons (premade or you can make yourself)
½ cup finely grated parmesan cheese
1-2oz can of imported sardines, chop finely
Finely grate the garlic on the rasp, and add to a small saute pan with the 1Tablespoon of olive oil and the anchovies. Stir together until the anchovies have melted and then remove from the heat and let cool. Clean and rinse the romaine leaves and leave them to drain well in a colander. Add the ¼ cup oil, lemon juice, dry mustard and pepper together in a bowl and whisk well to create an emulsion. We don’t add any more salt because of the saltiness gained from other ingredients, but go ahead if you find that you may need it in yours…Add in the cooled ingredients from the sautee pan, and mix well again. Add the romaine leaves and toss gently, then half of the cheese and the croutons and toss again. Add the remaining croutons and cheese on top. You can add any type of protein to this if you like, as mentioned above, or simply enjoy as is…it is that delicious!
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