March 16, 2010: Caesar Salad

Encountering an authentic Caesar Salad is like searching for a needle in a haystack. There has been an explosion of versions that claim to be Caesar, but it is virtually impossible to find one that comes close to the original salad concocted by Caesar Cardini in his Tijuana restaurant, circa 1925 (during the Prohibition era, Californians crossed the border for their fun!). The main difference I find between wanna-be and the original Caesar salad is in the pitch of the flavor. The original is subtle and well-balanced compared to the blast of garlic and blizzard of cheese that is typical of current renditions. Julia Child added the following, well-researched recipe to her book, "From Julia Child's Kitchen," including the dramatic table-side presentation. Now, you can have an authentic Caesar fresh from your own kitchen!

CAESAR SALAD

24 leaves of romaine lettuce, gently washed, dried and chilled
2 cloves garlic
Sea salt
3/4 cup olive oil
2 cups unseasoned toasted croutons
1 lemon
2 eggs
1/4 cup reggiano-parmigiano
Freshly ground pepper
Worcestershire sauce

Croutons

Puree the garlic through a garlic press into a small heavy bowl. Mash to a smooth paste with a pestle or spoon. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt and dribble in 3 tablespoons oil. Strain into a small frying pan and heat just to warm. Add the croutons, toss for about a minute over moderate heat, then turn into a serving bowl.

Other Preliminaries

Squeeze the lemon into a pitcher. Boil the eggs exactly 1 minute. Place the cheese into a nice bowl. Arrange these and all the ingredients on a tray. Chill your salad plates. Arrange the romaine in a large salad bowl.

Mixing the Salad

"Prepare to use large rather slow and dramatic gestures for everything you do, as though you were Caesar himself." Pour 4 tablespoons over the romaine and give the leaves 2 gentle rolling tosses. Sprinkle on 1/4 teaspoon slat, 8 grindings of pepper, 2 more tablespoons of oil, and give another gentle, but thorough, toss. Pour on the lemon juice, 6 drops of Worcestershire Sauce, and break the eggs over the salad. Toss Twice, sprinkle on the cheese. Toss once, then sprinkle on the croutons and give 2 final tosses.

Serving

Arrange the salad rapidly but "stylishly" leaf by leaf on each plate, stems facing outward, and a sprinkling of croutons at the side. Guests may eat the salad with their fingers, in the approved and original Caesar manner, or may use knives and forks -- which they will need anyway for the croutons.

*Note: there are no anchovies, as you find in many other Caesar recipes. Actually, it's the Worcestershire sauce which contains the touch of anchovy to add to the flavor bouquet of the salad.