 It's
a little funny isn't it, in an "I-told-you-so" sort of way? All those
people fooled by corporate restaurant planners the past few years.
"A new discovery
- Caesar Salad! I can stay on my diet by having salad for dinner!"
It would become
a permanent fixture on menus across America. Dressed up in so many
different guises: creamy or oily, with or without cheese, round
or square croutons, whole lettuce spears or torn leaves. "For an
additional $5.95 you may add grilled shrimp or blackened chicken."
How thoughtful for giving us so many options.
I apologize
for my devilish sense of humor, but it just strikes me as funny
that a salad which has been a classic for so many years is all of
a sudden "discovered" and turns into such a profit maker for restaurant
chains. In any case, let's get to uncovering the truth.
Caesar Salad
is one of those great dishes that had a simple beginning. Legend
has it that Caesar Cardini, a Tijuana restaurateur, created the
salad one day in the 1950's when all he had in the kitchen were
a few ingredients: romaine lettuce, anchovies, eggs and some cheese.
The recipe
soon found its way into the homes and restaurant kitchens of California,
and quickly spread throughout the country.
I remember
ordering Caesar Salad in a "Continental" restaurant in the early
1970's. Table service was still de riguer at many of the better
restaurants of the day and our eyes fixed on the tuxedoed waiter
as he rolled a trolley up to our table, outfitted with all the appropriate
ingredients to create a masterpiece.
The waiter
worked like a magician, deftly rubbing a clove of garlic on the
inside of a large wooden bowl, then tossing in romaine lettuce,
salt, pepper, cheese, oil and croutons. The grande finale came when
he held an egg in one hand from high above the bowl and in an instant,
cracked the shell and let the raw egg fell into the nest of greens
below. Oh what a treat it was.
Sadly, the
news that raw eggs were a prime source of food poisoning eventually
led to the near demise of the venerable Caesar Salad - until the
chain restaurants and purveyors of "bagged salads" revived the revered
plate of greens.
I have personally
never fallen ill by using raw eggs in this recipe, but I cannot
formally endorse that you use them - it is at your discretion.
Today let
us dispense with all the silly trends and get back to basics - the
tradition of Caesar Salad as Mr. Cardini intended it to be - crisp
romaine tossed with a pungent dressing spiked with anchovy.
Caesar
Salad
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