Hail Caesar – How I fell back in love with the Caesar Salad. For most of my working life restaurants and pubs have had Chicken Caesar Salad on the menu. In fact, for a long time, it seemed almost the only salad option. Unfortunately, it was not always done well, the salad limp, poor quality anchovies, stale croutons and the dressing not up to scratch. And please don’t get met started on the question, “Can I have that without anchovies please?”. Safe to say it’s been a long time since I tried one.
Taking advantage of a trip to London and a stock up at the fabulous, tinned fish stall at Borough Market. I had some delicious anchovies left over from making Pan Bagnat. This got thinking about a back to basics, classic Caesar. I mean what’s not to like garlic, briny anchovies, and salty, umami packed Parmesan cheese. In a silky dressing with just a little kick of Dijon mustard. Some of my favourite all time ingredients. The finished result was a revelation but first let’s take a look at how the Caesar Salad was created.
A little bit of Caesar Salad History
The Caesar salad owes its creation to the advent of Prohibition in America. A San Diego based Italian called Cesare Cardini* moved his restaurant to Tijuana, Mexico in order to cater for wealthy Americans crossing the boarder for alcohol. One hundred and one years ago after a very busy evening the kitchen was running low on ingredients. Grabbing what he could Cardini created an improvised salad at the table in a large wooden bowl. First creating a dressing then tossing it with Romaine lettuce leaves and prepared croutons. The original recipe used limes and didn’t contain whole anchovies but used Worcestershire sauce. The finished result an American – Mexican – Italian hybrid!
Caesar salad soon became famous, and the restaurant visited by celebrities and film stars like Clark Cable. The influential writer and broadcaster Julia Child was taken by her parents as a child and had a salad created by the man himself. You can still visit the original restaurant and have the dish made at your table. However, there are a couple of changes to the dish Cardini himself would have prepared. The recipe is made with lemon juice, and the lettuce leaves are chopped up.
*Note the spelling. There are several stories about the origin of the salad. Some suggest it was invented by a chef working for Cardini or by his brother. You can still buy a version of Cardini’s dressing in bottles pretty much around the world.
If you like my Caesar Salad why not try and make another of my tasty salad recipes like my version of a Caprese, with tomatoes, basil and Mozzarella, a classic Salad Parisienne or how to make a great version of Greek Salad
My Caesar Salad Recipe
Ok it is time for me to make an admission. Life is too short to make puff pastry and mayonnaise when you can buy excellent versions in the shops. I’m lucky to live near to France and we have some amazing thick and creamy mayonnaise in our shops. I use this as a base for my dressing, so I don’t need the classic egg yolks and olive oil. My top tip in this recipe is to use some of the oil from my anchovies to thin the mayonnaise down to the right consistency. I also use mashed anchovies and Worcestershire sauce, but I am an anchovy nut.
I used Olasagasti Donostiarra anchovies, and they are fabulous. These large Basque style anchovies are loosely packed with garlic and red pepper after being fried in olive oil. The business has been producing these amazing fish since 1929. I could just eat them from the tin. My finished Caesar salad was a revelation the mix of flavours perfect, and it was beautiful as a light lunch. It would also work wonderfully as an appetiser and as a side dish with steak or roast chicken.
What to drink with a Caesar Salad?
There are some tricky ingredients in Caesar dressing Parmesan and anchovies can overpower some wines. My choices are luscious Pouilly-Fuissé with notes of crisp apple and honey and nutty undertones or a blonde ale such as a subtly flavoured Belgium Abbey beer.
My Caesar Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 Romaine Lettuce thoroughly washed and dried
- A quarter stale Baguette cut into thin slices
- 4 heaped tablespoons quality Mayonnaise
- 100 ml good Olive Oil
- 50 gr Parmigiano-Reggiano very finely grated
- 4 to 6 large Anchovy fillets plus oil from the tin
- 2 tablespoons of Lemon Juice freshly squeezed
- 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 large clove Garlic peeled and crushed
- ½ teaspoon Garlic Salt
- Sea Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper
Equipment
- Baking Tray
- Fine cheese grater
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 F / 180 C / Gas Mark 4. Place the baguette slices on a baking sheet and drizzle with the olive oil. Season with the garlic salt and bake for twenty minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
- Place the anchovies, garlic, Dijon mustard and half of the grated Parmesan into a bowl and mash into a paste with the back of a fork. Add the mayonnaise, lemon juice and the Worcestershire sauce and mix thoroughly.
- Add a couple of spoons of oil from the anchovies to let the dressing down and mix again. Check the seasoning, it will probably not need salt but add a good grate of pepper and mix again.
- Toss the prepared Romaine lettuce in the dressing and serve with the croutons and the remaining grated Parmesan.
Notes
Can I ask a Favour?
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