Caesar salad 6880 225689240 2008-07-14T22:27:55Z Iridescent 937705 Cleanup/[[WP:AWB/T|typo fixing]], typos fixed: italian → Italian using [[Project:AutoWikiBrowser|AWB]] {{Infobox Prepared Food | name = Caesar Salad | image = [[Image:CaesarSalad3.jpg|300px]] | caption = A Caesar salad variation topped with grilled chicken. | alternate_name = | country = [[Mexico]] | region = [[Tijuana]] | creator = [[Caesar Cardini]] | course = [[Hors d'œuvre]] | served = Chilled or Room Temperature | main_ingredient = [[romaine lettuce|Romaine Lettuce]] <br> [[Crouton]]s <br> [[lemon|Lemon Juice]] <br> [[olive oil|Olive Oil]] <br> [[egg (food)|Egg]] <br> [[Worcestershire sauce|Worcestershire Sauce]] <br> [[black pepper|Black Pepper]] | variations = Multiple | calories = | other = }} A typical '''Caesar [[salad]]''' comprises [[romaine lettuce]] and [[crouton]]s dressed with [[Parmesan cheese]], [[lemon]] juice, [[olive oil]], [[egg (food)|egg]], [[Worcestershire sauce]], and [[black pepper]] originally prepared tableside. [[Caesar Cardini]] (Italian-born Mexican) is credited with creating the salad. <ref name=obit>{{cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Caesar Cardini, Creator of Salad, Dies at 60 |url= |quote=Caesar Cardini, 60, credited with the invention of the Caesar salad, died [...] |publisher=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=[[November 5]], [[1956]] |accessdate=2007-07-21 }}</ref> <ref name=Rosa1/> ==History== There are several stories about the specifics of the salad's creation. Cardini was living in [[San Diego, California|San Diego]] but also working in [[Tijuana]] where he avoided the restrictions of [[Prohibition in the United States|prohibition]]. As his daughter ''Rosa'' (1928-2003) reported,<ref>[http://journals.aol.com/cdawriter/LifeInMyOpinion/ 1987 interview with Rosa Cardini, for ''Mailpac Magazine,'' LA.]</ref> her father invented the dish when a [[Independence Day (United States)|Fourth of July]] [[1924]] rush depleted the kitchen's supplies. Cardini made do with what he had, successfully added the dramatic flair of the table-side tossing "by the chef". Another story tells that as a Chef of Hotel Peñafiel in Tehuacán, Puebla, México, Alex Cardini, son of an Italian immigrant, made the Caesar Salad specially for a gourmet contest in Tijuana, winning first place with his innovative dish. Also, people believe that the salad was created for a group of [[Hollywood]] stars after a long weekend party, and still another, that Cardini's brother Alex created it as "Aviator's salad" for a bunch of San Diego aviator comrades who were in a hurry, and the dish was renamed later, when Alex was a partner of his brother. A few fellows among Cardini's personnel also claimed the authorship, but without success. <ref>[http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/lifestyle_columnists/article/0,2821,TCP_24456_5584351,00.html In "Hail Caesar", D. Grant quotes Aviator's salad and more (2007)]</ref> <ref>[http://www.kitchenproject.com/history/CaesarSalad/index.htm 1998 notes on claims]: <br/>"''Paul Maggiora,'' a partner of the Cardini's, claimed to have tossed the first Caesar's salad in 1927 for American airmen from San Diego and called it "Aviator's Salad. Caesar's brother ''Alex'' had claimed to have developed the salad (he too allegedly called it "aviator's salad"). ''Livio Santini'' claimed he made the salad from a recipe of his mother, in the kitchen of Caesar's restaurant when he was 18 years old, in 1925, and that Caesar took the recipe from him.''</ref> As an historical addendum, the salad recipe was created at a place operated by Cardini on the ground floor of the ''Hotel Comercial'' at the corner of ''2nd Street'' and Main, Tijuana. In 1929-1930, Cardini moved his restaurant to the newly constructed ''Hotel Caesar'' on Main St., nowadays [[Avenida Revolución]], near the corner of ''5th St.'' The ''Hotel Comercial'' is long-gone, but the historic "Comercial" building still stands at the same location, and the ''Hotel Caesar's'' continues to operate to this day. The restaurant closed in 1993, but after a renovation in the late 1990s, the bar in the hotel began preparing table-side "ensalada Caesar per tradition" and claims to serve the "original Caesar salad". <ref>[http://moyey.blogspot.com/2006_04_01_archive.html Moyey's Wine and Travel Blog from April 15, 2006] "Authentic Casar Salad, Caesars Sports Bar and Grill, Tijuana, Mexico"</ref> <gallery perrow="5" caption="Historical ''Caesar's'' locations"> Image:Kahn Building San Diego Hillcrest.jpg|The San Diego ''Kahn Building'' housed a ''Caesar's'' from 1923-1972. Image:Hotel Caesar's Place, Tijuana, early 1920s.jpg|The probably earliest ''Caesar's Place'' in Tijuana, early 1920s Image:Caesar's 'original' or 'hotel' restaurant - Tijuana c.1930.jpg|''Original Caesar's'' restaurant - Tijuana c.1924 <!-- Image with inadequate rationale removed: Image:Caesar Cardini Cafe, Tijuana, on opening night c1935.jpg|''Caesar Cardini Café,'' Mexico City, on opening night, c.1935 --> Image:Hotel Caesar, Tijuana Main Street, 1940s.jpg|''Hotel Caesar'' on Main Street, 1940s-early 1950s </gallery> <br style="clear:both" /> {| style="float:right; background:transparent; padding:0px; margin:0px;" |- valign="top" |[[Image:HotelCaesar.JPG|thumb|Nowadays ''Hotel Caesar's'' on Avenida Revolución, c.2000]] | |} In today's Tijuana, only the ''Caesar's Sports Bar and Grill,'' next door to Hotel Caesars, maintains the Caesar salad tradition. Until around 1993, the restaurant in ''The Coronet Bar,'' and ''Restaurant Caesar's Palace'' (both defunct), competed with the restaurant in ''Hotel Caesars'' for the "best Caesar's Salad" in Tijuana. ==Recipe== Contrary to popular belief, the original ''Caesar's salad'' [[recipe]] (unlike Alex's ''Aviator's salad'') <ref>above quoted D. Grant, → 'AVIATOR'S SALAD'</ref> did not contain pieces of [[anchovy]]; the slight anchovy flavor comes from the [[Worcestershire sauce]]. Cardini was opposed to using anchovies in his salad.<ref>"My father always used [[Lea and Perrins]] [[Worcestershire sauce]], and anchovies are one of its ingredients. [...] He meant this to be a subtle salad, and anchovies can be overwhelming." (Above quoted 1987 interview with Rosa Cardini)</ref> In the book ''From Julia Child's Kitchen'', [[Julia Child]] describes how she ate a Caesar's salad at Cardini's restaurant when she was a child in 1920s, and some 50 years later she sought out and called Cardini's daughter, in order to discover the original recipe. In this recipe, [[lettuce]] leaves are served whole on the plate, because they are meant to be lifted by the stem and eaten with the fingers. It also calls for [[coddled eggs]] and Italian [[olive oil]]. <ref name=Rosa1>{{cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= Rosa Cardini |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/09/22/db2203.xml |quote=Rosa Cardini, who has died in California aged 75, turned the salad dressing created by her father, Caesar, into a staple of modern dining and a million-dollar business. Although the origin of the Caesar Salad is a topic hotly debated by epicures, the generally accepted version is that it was first popularised in the United States in the late 1920s by an Italian immigrant, born Cesare Cardini. He and his brother Alessandro moved to [[San Diego]] from [[Milan]] after the Great War and then decided to open a restaurant just across the border in [[Tijuana, Mexico]], to attract Americans frustrated by Prohibition. |publisher=[[Telegraph]] |date=[[September 21]], [[2003]] |accessdate=2007-07-21 }}</ref> The Cardini family trademarked the original recipe in 1948, and more than a dozen of bottled ''Cardini's'' dressing varieties are available today. Many other bottled versions are sold, too. Some recipes include one or more of [[Mustard (condiment)|mustard]], [[avocado]], [[tomato]], [[bacon]] bits, or [[garlic]] cloves. Rochelle Low is credited with the creation of the "nouveau-Caesar" style by adding the hotly contested ingredient of [[Anchovy|anchovies]] to the dressing recipe. ''Cardini's Brand original Caesar dressing'' is somewhat different from Rosa's version <ref>[http://www.grumpygourmetusa.com/culinary_beat2.html Review on Caesar Salad, by "The Grumpy Gourmet," Doral Chenoweth, Quote:]<br/>"Today the nearest to Cardini's recipe is a commercial Caesar dressing prepared and marketed by the Marzetti Co."</ref> <ref>Marzetti's(R) "Cardini's(R) Original Caesar dressing" is made with soy oil and anchovies, and gluten free, by now – [http://www.marzetti.com/_admin/_includes/_NUTRITION/Cardini_Ceasar_Dressing.pdf Information on ingredients given by manufacturer]</ref> in order to serve today's customer's and manufacturer's needs. Today, there are many variations. Many restaurants offer a more substantial salad by topping a Caesar salad with grilled [[chicken]], [[steak]], [[salmon]] or [[shrimp]]. Certain Mexican restaurants even improvise on items such as substituting [[tortilla]] strips for croutons and [[Cotija cheese]] for the Parmesan, or the addition of tomatoes in the Letchworth salad. <ref>Let's once more cite [http://www.grumpygourmetusa.com/culinary_beat2.html Chenoweth] on this: <br/>"In my reviewing career I have found alleged Caesar salads in this country prepared with [...] [editor's note: almost anything]. It was there that I decided to take up the cause."<br/>"I walked from the border to Caesar's Bar & Grill, 5th and Main streets. The second floor ballroom was the salad restaurant. Two chefs were treating tourists to technique. They still use Cardini's preferred wooden bowls. My conversation with one of the chefs went like this: * Q - Where does the Romaine come from? <br/>A - Da states. * Q - Where does the grated Parmesan come from? <br/>A - Da states. * Q - Where do you get the eggs? <br/>A - From da chickens.<br/>Those answers were satisfying. I recrossed the border vowing to defend Caesar Cardini."</ref> ===Ingredients=== * '''Ingredients''' according to the Hotel Caesar's recipe from about 2006: <ref>See [http://www.grumpygourmetusa.com/caesar_back_4.JPG "The original Caesar's salad" (JPG)], as obtained by ''Doral Chenoweth''</ref> ** [[romaine lettuce]] ** [[olive oil]] ** [[mustard]] powdered or prepared ** fresh crushed [[garlic]] - often in olive oil ** [[salt]] ** fresh-ground [[black pepper]] ** wine [[vinegar]] <ref>The Rosa Cardini recipe does not call for this. As there hardly will be found an Italian salad recipe of that time without any vinegar at all, this might be just an omission.</ref> ** [[lemon]] juice or [[lime]] juice - fresh squeezed ** [[Worcestershire sauce]] ** raw or [[coddling|coddled]] [[Egg (food)|egg yolks]] ** freshly grated [[Parmesan cheese]] ** freshly prepared [[crouton]]s * Widely accepted, but '''unlikely to be original:''' ** [[mayonnaise]] ** variations of lettuce ** chicken ** capers ** [[Romano cheese]] === Raw egg and salmonella === Some people are concerned about the safety of Caesar salads due to the potential risk of infection by [[salmonella]] bacteria occasionally found in raw eggs. This is a concern with many similar dressings like [[mayonnaise]], though generally the [[pH]] level is thought to be [[acidic]] enough to kill those bacteria. Nevertheless, later versions of the recipe call at least for briefly-cooked [[coddled egg]]s or [[pasteurized]] eggs. Today, many recipes even omit the egg and produce a "Caesar [[vinaigrette]]". Yogurt is sometimes substituted for the eggs to maintain a creamy texture. However, purists disdain these alternatives which do not use raw eggs, as "not being true ''Caesar's salads''". == References == {{reflist|2}} ==Books== * ''In Search of Caesar - The Ultimate Caesar Salad Book,'' Terry D. Greenfield, Tjicknor & Fields, 1983 * ''What's Cooking America,'' Linda Stradley, Chehalem Publishing, 1997 * ''The Dictionary of American Food & Drink,'' John F. Mariani, Ticknor & Fields, 1983. * ''The Food Chronology'', James Trager, Henry Holt and Company, 1995. * ''From Julia Child's Kitchen,'' [[Julia Child]], 1975. ISBN 0-517-20712-5 ==External links== {{cookbook}} * [http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/SaladHistory.htm History of Salads]. * [http://www.noanchoviesincaesar.com/ Narrative and original recipe from ''From Julia Child's Kitchen''] * [http://www.bigoven.com/157535-Caesar-Salad-ala-Steve-recipe.html Caesar Salad from BigOven.com] * [http://www.bigoven.com/cookingvideo.aspx?id=109 Caesar Salad Video from Hotel Caesar in Tijuana, B.C., Mexico] [[Category:Salads]] [[Category:Salad dressings]] [[Category:Mexican cuisine]] [[Category:American cuisine]] [[Category:Tijuana folklore]] [[Category:1924 in Mexico]] [[de:Caesar Salad]] [[es:Ensalada César]] [[fr:Salade César]] [[he:סלט קיסר]] [[nl:Caesarsalade]] [[ja:シーザーサラダ]] [[ru:Цезарь (салат)]] [[sv:Caesarsallad]] [[zh:凱撒沙拉]]