Caesar salad
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The Caesar salad is a traditional salad served in American restaurants, often prepared tableside. A very popular dish there, it is sometimes termed the "king" of salads.
It was invented in 1924 by Caesar Cardini or one of his associates. Cardini was an Italian-American restaurateur and chef in Tijuana, Mexico, living in San Diego but working in Tijuana to avoid the restrictions of Prohibition. There are several stories about the specifics of the salad's creation, none of which can be confirmed. The most common is that it resulted from a July 4th rush depleting the kitchen's supplies, and Cardini made do with what he had, adding the dramatic flare of table-side tossing. Another is that it was created for a group of Hollywood stars after a long weekend party. Most stories say that Cardini had to whip something up from what he had left in his kitchen, and the Caesar salad is what he came up with.
The original Caesar salad recipe did not have anchovies in it; the slight anchovy flavor came from Worcestershire sauce. Most modern recipes now include anchovies as an ingredient, in whole or paste form.
A Caesar salad is generally made from the following ingredients:
- romaine lettuce
- garlic croutons
- lemon juice
- olive oil
- parmesan cheese
- coddled or hard-boiled eggs
- fresh-ground black pepper
- Worcestershire sauce
The following may also be added:
Contemporary versions may also include chicken or shrimp.
Many people are concerned about eating a Caesar salad today due to the potential risk of salmonella poisoning. The original recipe incorporated a raw egg, and later versions used briefly-cooked coddled eggs. Even a switch to chopped, hard-boiled eggs has not prevented sporadic outbreaks of salmonella poisoning from restaurant-made Caesar salads. Caveat esor.
The Cardini family licensed the original recipe early on, and bottled Cardini Caesar salad dressing is still available, sans anchovies. Many other bottled versions are sold now, as well, including Morgan's and Newman's Own.
Riffing on the popular idea that Caesar salad was invented by or for Julius Caesar, the Canadian comedy duo of Johnny Wayne and Frank Shuster (both now deceased) did at least two versions of a sketch in which Caesar's chef (played by Shuster) prepares the ingredients of a modern Caesar salad, and says, "You shall name this salad, Caesar". After a moment of pondering, Caesar (played by Wayne) replies (in one version of the sketch), "I name it... cole slaw." Brutus offers his knife to the cook when the cook disparages the new name. In another, possibly earlier version of the sketch, Caesar names it something rather bland, like a mixed green salad.
In fact, Julius Caesar and Caesar salad have no connection, other than the fact that Caesar Cardini may have been named after Julius.
- See also List of foods named after people
External links
- Salad (Caesar) (http://textism.com/article/626) - A classic recipe, also notable in making use of the phrase ". . . à la Pete Townshend (without all the booze and deafness, of course)."
- Alton Brown's version (http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/cooking/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_14245,00.html) - Alton Brown (of the cooking show Good Eats) provides this recipe that attempts to be true to the original.