Salad Days – Classic Caesar Salad

The most popular salad in America may well be the Caesar.  Everyone seems to love this iconic salad.  Making it at home is a lot easier than you may have thought.The origin of the Caesar Salad is generally attributed to restaurateur Caesar Cardini, an Italian immigrant who operated a restaurant in Tijuana.  His daughter, Rosa, says that her father invented the dish when there was a rush at the restaurant on the Fourth of July 1924.  It seems that everything in the kitchen was being used up, so Cardini made do with what he had to make, what has become his famous salad, adding the dramatic flair of the table-side tossing of the salad.  While others have, on occasion, taken the credit for being the first to make the salad,  Julia Child validated that it was Cardini who first made the salad when she said that she had eaten a Caesar salad at Cardini’s restaurant when she was a child in the 1920s.

For those of you who don’t like anchovy, it may interest you to know that the original recipe did not include anchovies.  So the next time a waiter asks if you want anchovies on your salad you can tell him “No, I prefer the original recipe.”    If you’ve never made one before, now is your chance.  You can make the dressing at the table too, as Cardini did, if you enjoy a bit of drama.  Or you can make the dressing in the blender and serve the salad already “dressed”.  Of course, you can always add some roasted chicken or shrimp if you want to make it an entree salad.  And it is the perfect accompaniment to spaghetti

or pizza.

Either would make a lovely dinner for your Oscar party this weekend.  Caesar Salad is an American classic that has been enjoyed for nearly 90 years and we think will no doubt be enjoyed for many more years to come:)

Classic Caesar Salad

2 flat anchovy fillets,(optional)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons Sherry vinegar
juice from a lemon
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
pinch of salt
1 egg , (coddled if you don’t want to use a raw egg)
1/2 cup olive oil
4 romaine hearts, torn into pieces
2 handfuls of grated Parmesan cheese
Croutons 

To coddle the egg for the dressing, bring a pot of water to boil, add egg and cook for exactly 1 minute….NO MORE. This will coddle the egg. Remove the egg from the water and let it cool off. You can also run the egg under cold water to stop it from continuing to cook.

Meanwhile, if you are making the dressing table-side, you will need to mix the Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, garlic, salt & pepper, anchovy, and vinegar in a bowl. Crack the egg and add to these ingredients. Whisk until smooth.

Now for the tricky part. Slowly add the oil in a steady stream while constantly whisking again until smooth.  If you add the oil too quickly, the dressing will be separated and not emulsify, so be sure to add it slowly  and keep whisking.

If you are making the dressing in the blender, put the Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, garlic, salt & pepper, anchovy, vinegar and egg in the blender and mix for a minute.  While the blender is running on a slow speed slowly add the oil.

Toss the dressing with the torn pieces of romaine.  Add the Parmesan cheese and croutons and you are ready to enjoy!