Caesar salad
Encyclopedia
A Caesar salad is a salad
of romaine lettuce
and crouton
s dressed with parmesan cheese, lemon juice, olive oil, egg, Worcestershire sauce
, garlic, and black pepper. It may be prepared tableside.
, an Italian
immigrant who operated restaurants in Mexico and the United States. Cardini was living in San Diego
but also working in Tijuana
where he avoided the restrictions of Prohibition
. His daughter Rosa (1928–2003) recounted that her father invented the dish when a Fourth of July
1924 rush depleted the kitchen's supplies. Cardini made do with what he had, adding the dramatic flair of the table-side tossing "by the chef."
A number of Mr. Cardini's staff have claimed to have invented the dish.
Julia Child
claimed to have eaten a Caesar salad at Cardini's restaurant when she was a child in the 1920s.
Nonetheless, the earliest contemporary documentation of Caesar Salad is from a 1946 Los Angeles restaurant menu, twenty years after the 1924 origin asserted by the Cardinis.
; the slight anchovy flavor comes from the Worcestershire sauce. Cardini was opposed to using anchovies in his salad.
In the 1970s, Cardini's daughter said that the original recipe included whole lettuce leaves, which were meant to be lifted by the stem and eaten with the fingers; coddled eggs; and Italian olive oil.
The trademarks "Cardini's", "Caesar Cardini's" and "The Original Caesar Dressing" are all claimed to date to February 1950, though they were only registered decades later, and more than a dozen varieties of bottled Cardini's dressing are available today. Some recipes include mustard, avocado, tomato, bacon bits, garlic cloves or anchovies. Cardini's Brand original Caesar dressing is somewhat different from Rosa's version.
Many restaurants offer a more substantial salad by topping a Caesar salad with grilled chicken, steak, or seafood. Certain Mexican restaurants may improvise on items such as substituting tortilla strips for croutons and Cotija cheese
for the Parmesan, or the addition of tomatoes.
bacteria occasionally found in raw egg from cracked or improperly washed eggshells. This is a concern with many similar dressings that are emulsified
with eggs, though generally the pH
level is thought to be acidic enough to kill those bacteria. Nevertheless, later versions of the recipe call at least for briefly cooked coddled egg
s or pasteurized eggs. Recipes may omit the egg and produce a "Caesar vinaigrette
". Yogurt is sometimes substituted for the eggs to maintain a creamy texture.
Salad
Salad is any of a wide variety of dishes, including vegetable salads; salads of pasta, legumes, eggs, or grains; mixed salads incorporating meat, poultry, or seafood; and fruit salads. They may include a mixture of cold and hot, often including raw vegetables or fruits.Green salads include leaf...
of romaine lettuce
Romaine lettuce
Romaine or cos lettuce is a variety of lettuce which grows in a tall head of sturdy leaves with a firm rib down the center. Unlike most lettuces, it is tolerant of heat...
and crouton
Crouton
A crouton is a small piece of sautéed or rebaked bread, often cubed and seasoned, that is used to add texture and flavor to salads, notably the Caesar salad, as an accompaniment to soups, or eaten as a snack food. The word crouton is derived from the French croûton, itself derived from croûte,...
s dressed with parmesan cheese, lemon juice, olive oil, egg, Worcestershire sauce
Worcestershire sauce
Worcestershire sauce , or Worcester sauce is a fermented liquid condiment; primarily used to flavour meat or fish dishes.First made at 60 Broad Street, Worcester, England, by two dispensing chemists, John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins, the Lea & Perrins brand was commercialised in 1837 and...
, garlic, and black pepper. It may be prepared tableside.
History
The salad's creation is generally attributed to restaurateur Caesar CardiniCaesar Cardini
Cesare Cardini was an Italian American restaurateur, chef, and hotel owner, who is credited with creating the Caesar salad....
, an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
immigrant who operated restaurants in Mexico and the United States. Cardini was living in San Diego
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
but also working in Tijuana
Tijuana
Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
where he avoided the restrictions of Prohibition
Prohibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
. His daughter Rosa (1928–2003) recounted that her father invented the dish when a Fourth of July
Independence Day (United States)
Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...
1924 rush depleted the kitchen's supplies. Cardini made do with what he had, adding the dramatic flair of the table-side tossing "by the chef."
A number of Mr. Cardini's staff have claimed to have invented the dish.
Julia Child
Julia Child
Julia Child was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for introducing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and her subsequent television programs, the most notable of which was The French Chef, which...
claimed to have eaten a Caesar salad at Cardini's restaurant when she was a child in the 1920s.
Nonetheless, the earliest contemporary documentation of Caesar Salad is from a 1946 Los Angeles restaurant menu, twenty years after the 1924 origin asserted by the Cardinis.
Recipe
The original Caesar salad recipe (unlike Alex's Aviator's salad) did not contain pieces of anchovyAnchovy
Anchovies are a family of small, common salt-water forage fish. There are 144 species in 17 genera, found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Anchovies are usually classified as an oily fish.-Description:...
; the slight anchovy flavor comes from the Worcestershire sauce. Cardini was opposed to using anchovies in his salad.
In the 1970s, Cardini's daughter said that the original recipe included whole lettuce leaves, which were meant to be lifted by the stem and eaten with the fingers; coddled eggs; and Italian olive oil.
The trademarks "Cardini's", "Caesar Cardini's" and "The Original Caesar Dressing" are all claimed to date to February 1950, though they were only registered decades later, and more than a dozen varieties of bottled Cardini's dressing are available today. Some recipes include mustard, avocado, tomato, bacon bits, garlic cloves or anchovies. Cardini's Brand original Caesar dressing is somewhat different from Rosa's version.
Many restaurants offer a more substantial salad by topping a Caesar salad with grilled chicken, steak, or seafood. Certain Mexican restaurants may improvise on items such as substituting tortilla strips for croutons and Cotija cheese
Cotija cheese
Cotija is a hard cow's milk cheese that originated from Mexico. It is named after the town of Cotija, Michoacán.Cotija comes in two primary versions. El queso Cotija de Montaña or "grain cheese" is dry and firm, with little taste beyond salt...
for the Parmesan, or the addition of tomatoes.
Ingredients
- Ingredients according to the Hotel Caesar's recipe from about 2006:
- romaine or cos lettuceRomaine lettuceRomaine or cos lettuce is a variety of lettuce which grows in a tall head of sturdy leaves with a firm rib down the center. Unlike most lettuces, it is tolerant of heat...
- olive oil
- fresh crushed garlic – often in olive oil
- salt to taste
- fresh-ground black pepper
- wine vinegar
- lemon juice or lime juice - fresh squeezed
- Worcestershire sauceWorcestershire sauceWorcestershire sauce , or Worcester sauce is a fermented liquid condiment; primarily used to flavour meat or fish dishes.First made at 60 Broad Street, Worcester, England, by two dispensing chemists, John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins, the Lea & Perrins brand was commercialised in 1837 and...
- raw or coddled eggCoddled eggIn cooking, coddled eggs are gently or lightly cooked eggs. They can be partially cooked, mostly cooked, or hardly cooked at all...
yolks - freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- freshly prepared croutons
- romaine or cos lettuce
Variations
There are limitless variations. However, some of the more common are:- other varieties of lettuce
- grilled poultry (most often chicken), meat, shellfish, or fish
- capers
- Romano cheeseRomano cheeseRomano cheese is an American term for a class of cheeses, some of them Italian, including Pecorino Romano, a hard, salty cheese, suitable primarily for grating, from which the name is derived....
- anchoviesAnchovyAnchovies are a family of small, common salt-water forage fish. There are 144 species in 17 genera, found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Anchovies are usually classified as an oily fish.-Description:...
- bacon
Raw egg and Salmonella
There is inherent risk of infection by SalmonellaSalmonella
Salmonella is a genus of rod-shaped, Gram-negative, non-spore-forming, predominantly motile enterobacteria with diameters around 0.7 to 1.5 µm, lengths from 2 to 5 µm, and flagella which grade in all directions . They are chemoorganotrophs, obtaining their energy from oxidation and reduction...
bacteria occasionally found in raw egg from cracked or improperly washed eggshells. This is a concern with many similar dressings that are emulsified
Emulsion
An emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally immiscible . Emulsions are part of a more general class of two-phase systems of matter called colloids. Although the terms colloid and emulsion are sometimes used interchangeably, emulsion is used when both the dispersed and the...
with eggs, though generally the pH
PH
In chemistry, pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Pure water is said to be neutral, with a pH close to 7.0 at . Solutions with a pH less than 7 are said to be acidic and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are basic or alkaline...
level is thought to be acidic enough to kill those bacteria. Nevertheless, later versions of the recipe call at least for briefly cooked coddled egg
Coddled egg
In cooking, coddled eggs are gently or lightly cooked eggs. They can be partially cooked, mostly cooked, or hardly cooked at all...
s or pasteurized eggs. Recipes may omit the egg and produce a "Caesar vinaigrette
Vinaigrette
The word vinaigrette or vinegarette can refer to:*Vinaigrette, the salad dressing or sauce...
". Yogurt is sometimes substituted for the eggs to maintain a creamy texture.
Books
- Child, JuliaJulia ChildJulia Child was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for introducing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and her subsequent television programs, the most notable of which was The French Chef, which...
. From Julia Child's Kitchen, 1975. ISBN 0-517-20712-5 - Greenfield, Terry D. In Search of Caesar - The Ultimate Caesar Salad Book, Tjicknor & Fields, 1983.
- Mariani, John F. The Dictionary of American Food & Drink, Ticknor & Fields, 1983.
- Stradley, Linda. What's Cooking America, Chehalem Publishing, 1997.
- Trager, James. The Food Chronology, Henry Holt and Company, 1995.