CAESAR SALAD DAYS
This is a story about choices, creativity, personal power, and a salad. Specifically, the Caesar salad from the 1967 Joy of Cooking.
My mother made this salad table side at a dinner party in our home during her wilder bachelorette days. It had been an adults only dinner party and though I’d been banished to my bedroom for the evening I’d snuck downstairs for a view of the procedure which I still remember well. I crouched behind a chair in our brightly lit living room and peered into the adjacent dining room which was almost completely dark. I could still make out my mother’s form as she stood in front of a group of unrecognizable guests and ceremoniously cracked an egg into a large wooden salad bowl.
The idea of a salad that was so fancy that it had to be made in a nearly dark table-side ritual intrigued me. I later asked my mother to make it for my brother and I. When I finally tasted it, the splash of the vinegar mixed with the saltiness of the anchovies and Parmesan shocked my system and blew my mind. As I drank the dressing that remained on the plate after the salad was gone, I remember being surprised by the strength of my conviction. I’d found something that I liked that wasn’t based on anyone else’s expectations of me.
Like most children, my life experiences were determined by my parents. I was forced to live where they said, eat what they cooked and experience the chaos of their daily personal dramas without question, or comment. I had very little control over my experience.
Now, for the first time I was becoming aware of my personal taste. This dish… a salad, stood out from everything else. It was something that I enjoyed more than ice cream, or steak, or most of the other dishes I was subjected to.
I was 10 or 11 when I first made the salad myself. I’d found something I could love in a time in my life when I wasn’t having all that much fun. could follow that recipe and make something for myself that truly enjoyed. I was in control of my own happiness in that regards. I found something that I liked, and I found out how to make it for myself. It was a small, but steady victory.
The dressing is more of a vinaigrette than the fattening, creamy versions found in a lot of restaurants these days. Many people think it’s an Italian salad and it kind of is, but they have the wrong Caesar in mind. It was developed in Tijuana, Mexico by Caesar Cardini, an Italian immigrant. The Joy of Cooking version is a bit different than Cardini’s original which didn’t contain anchovies and was considerably more eggy.
Over the years I’ve modified it a bit. I found that I really don’t need the raw egg as a binder, though sometimes I do add a splash of Egg Beaters to give the dressing a little more body. I also skip the croutons to keep the carbs down, and I add even more healthy Omega 3s packed anchovies for protein.
I’m now 30 years and 3000 miles away from my Midwestern childhood. My personal taste is a well defined aspect of my personality that I’ve been able to make a nice living from. Can I give all of the credit to a salad? Perhaps.
Ingredients
- 1 bag of chopped romaine lettuce
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil citrus infused if possible
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 5 anchovies
- 1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- The juice of 1 lemon
- Splash of Egg Beaters – optional
- 4 tablespoons Parmesan cheese grated
Instructions
- Instructions
- Mash the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and anchovies together in a wooden salad bowl
- to make a paste. Add the lettuce and mix well to coat. Add the salt, pepper and
- mustard powder. Add the red wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and egg if your using
- it. Mix well. Toss in the cheese and combine. Serve topped with freshly ground pepper
- and more Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
Here’s the original version:
Ingredients
For the famous recipe from California leave:
- 1 clove garlic peeled and sliced
- in 1/2 cup olive oil none other for 24 hours.
- Sauté one cup cubed French Bread in 2 tablespoons of the garlic oil above.
Break into 2″ lengths:
- 2 heads romaine
- Wash and dry well.
- Place the romaine in a salad bowl.
Sprinkle over it:
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
- A generous grating of black pepper
- 5 fillets of anchovy cut up small or mashed into a paste
- a few drops of Worcestershire sauce
Add:
- 3 tablespoons of wine vinegar
- and the remaining 6 tablespoons of garlic oil.
Cook gently in simmering water for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes or use raw:
- 1 egg
- Drop the egg from the shell onto the ingredients in the bowl.
- Squeeze over the egg: The juice of 1 lemon
- Add the croutons and:
- 2 to 3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
- Toss the salad well. Serve it at once.
