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One version about the invention of Caesar salad is a wonderful tale. Supposedly, a gang of Hollywood swells, looking to avoid the stinginess of Prohibition, happened into the restaurant alongside Caesar’s Hotel in Tijuana, Mexico in the wee hours of Fourth of July weekend in 1924. As Clark Gable and Gloria Swanson and the rest of their party ordered cocktails, the chef, frantically scrambled through his nearly empty larder for the ingredients for their supper. It had been a very busy weekend as scores of other Americans had crossed the same border in hopes of some serious libations.
Chef Caesar Cardini grabbed a large bowl, some romaine lettuce, coddled eggs, Parmesan cheese, lemons, olive oil and possibly anchovies and with all the flair he could muster created a salad tableside. The only problem with this version of the story is that in 1924, Clark Gable had yet to star in a movie and Gloria Swanson was 13 years old.
There seems to be some truth at least to the site of the invention, as Julia Child remembers having dinner with her parents, in 1925 or 1926, at Caesar’s Bar and ordering his now famous salad, the specialty of the house.
This is my version of the dish. It is very much worth the time to make your own croutons.
Sue Kleber
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Caesar Salad
3 TB strained freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 TB light vinegar, either malt or rice
2 cloves mashed and minced garlic
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 large egg yolk or the equivalent of eggbeaters
4 mashed anchovies or 1 tsp. anchovy paste
1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese (Romano preferred)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
several grinds of black pepper
2/3 cup olive oil
2 heads of romaine hearts, torn into bite size pieces
2 cups homemade croutons.
Mix the first ten ingredients in a blender until the garlic and anchovies incorporate. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil and blend until thick and emulsified. Toss romaine, croutons and dressing and serve with a few additional curls of Romano cheese.
Serves four
Croutons
2 cups chewy artisan type bread cut into 1/2 inch dice
1/4 cup olive oil
2 to 3 mashed whole garlic cloves
salt to taste
Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet and add garlic cloves and gently sauté until medium brown but not burnt. Remove garlic and discard. Add cubed bread and sauté until the bread cubes and crisp and golden brown. Salt to taste.
To make this a complete luncheon dish, top the salad with a grilled chicken breast that has been sliced on the bias and fan it on top of the salad. Top with a spoon of avocado salsa.
Chunky Avocado Salsa
1 ripe Haas avocado, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 mashed garlic clove
1 scant TB minced shallot
4 globe cherry tomatoes, finely minced
1 1/2 tsp minced jalapeno chili
1 TB Frank’s Hot Sauce
1 TB olive oil
1 TB fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt and pepper
Mix all ingredients except the avocado. Add avocado and very gently toss to coat, trying not to break up the cubes.
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