American menus are peppered with dishes sent stateside from south of the border: Tacos, salsa, enchiladas and tortillas are all too easy to mention, but anyone who includes the Caesar salad should be showered with laurels.
Yes, this deceptively simple salad was groomed for stardom just across the line in Tijuana, Mexico.
It has withstood the passage of time and the fickleness of food trends. Caesar was popular in days when meat and potatoes reigned and salads were tolerated more than they were sought out. It held its popularity through decades that witnessed the fleeting fame of bunny rabbit salads, seven-layer salads and stuffed tomato salads.
And today, it`s more popular than ever. The National Restaurant Association reports a 700-percent increase in the number of Caesar salads ordered in restaurants between 1984 and 1989, the largest gain posted by any salad. In charting trends for 1992, the San Francisco Chronicle also noted that Caesar salads are red hot.
Bradley Ogden, owner/chef of the Lark Creek Inn in Larkspur, Calif., just outside of San Francisco, said the trend isn`t just in the minds of prognosticators. At his restaurant, they go through 80 to 90 Caesar salads a day and if they dare to take them off the menu, customers ”scream and yell,” he said.
”With the Caesar, what you see is what you get,” Ogden added. ”It`s a simple salad, but if done well, it is fantastic. I think that`s why it is so popular now even though it is not new. The trend isn`t just the salad itself but the fresh approach to simplicity.”
In Chicago, restaurants from Printer`s Row to the Pump Room, Maggiano`s Little Italy to Salvatore`s keep a classical rendering of Caesar in their repertoire.
But the simplicity of the salad lends itself to innovation, a temptation some restaurants find too hard to resist. Blue Mesa does it Southwestern style, adding nibbles of corn and a kick of jalapeno peppers to the dressing. Jaxx and scores of other restaurants top it with grilled chicken breast. Jimo`s tosses in some tomato and roasted red pepper.
But what about its origins? Julius Caesar had nothing to do with it. If the legend is true, on July 4, 1924, Caesar Cardini, a Tijuana restaurateur, found himself in one of the worst possible predicaments for someone in his line of work: He was running low on food over a busy holiday weekend.
This was smack in the middle of Prohibition, but Tijuana, just 15 miles from San Diego, was not held to the dry dictates of the 18th Amendment. So it was a magnet for revelers, many of them Hollywood stars who often headed to Caesar`s Place for alcoholic libations as well as food. And on this particular holiday, a dense pack of partiers had invaded Caesar`s.
With lots of hungry people at his door, Cardini did what any other cook would do back then. He invented.
The larder was stocked with bare essentials, according to the story. When you`re desperate, even a crate of romaine lettuce holds promise. Cardini paired those greens with a garlicky dressing, Parmesan cheese and fried bread cubes. So began his salad days.
Many salads have been created over the years, doubtless some of them grander than the Caesar. But Cardini had an inspired moment that set his namesake salad apart from the others. Perhaps troubled by the truth that he was serving a plebeian salad, with only a few cents` worth of ingredients, he made the salad into a Hollywood-style production.
Waiters rolled the raw ingredients right up to the table and assumed the role of salad chefs, mixing up the salad as well as a legend. Thus, Cardini saved his hide for the weekend and immortalized himself.
Caesar Cardini eventually tossed in his salad tongs and headed north to California. But the legacy lives on. In 1948, he began bottling Cardini`s Caesar Salad Dressing.
Today, Cardini has a Chicago connection. In 1986, Cardini`s daughter, Rosa, sold the line of dressings to Dolfam Foods, based in Arlington Heights. Arlen Gould, president of Dolfam, notes that the salad and dressing are selling better now than ever.
”When the salad is made properly, it is very light and fresh. The dressing isn`t gloppy. It just coats the leaves so it all tastes clean. And with all the scare about eating raw eggs (or coddled eggs, which are an integral ingredient in a classic Caesar salad), more people are turning to the bottled dressing as a precaution,” Gould says.
Caesar salads did have a brush with mortality, thanks to the barely cooked egg used in the dressing. The egg thickens the dressing so it glosses over the greens like silk. But the salmonella scare threatens to make the salad extinct-or at least it sorely compromises its authenticity.
Salmonella bacteria have been found in some raw eggs so that along with hollandaise sauce, and homemade mayonnaise, Caesar dressing became an object of fear and eating it was a little like playing game of Russian roulette.
Many restaurants acted quickly, switching from homemade Caesar dressing to bottled. Or, they still make a classic dressing but use pasteurized raw liquid eggs. Off the record, though, several chefs admitted that they still use raw or coddled eggs, hoping they won`t serve bad eggs to a customer.
Even though the original recipe for Caesar salad apparently is well documented, the issue of one ingredient still provokes controversy. Somewhere along the way, the anchovies got into the list of ingredients. Many argue vehemently that a Caesar salad is topped with a crosspatch of the hairy little critters. Rosa Cardini has gone on record nixing that idea, insisting that her father never arranged an anchovy over a Caesar salad. She speculates they were added by mistake. The subtle, salty undertones really come from the judicious splash of Worcestershire sauce in the dressing.
Whether it`s true to form or not, many of the Caesar salads around town have the final flourish of anchovies, making the question ”anchovies on yours or not” practically de rigueur.
Michael Foley maintains that anchovies were part of the original equation. With that assumption, the Caesar salad served at his Printer`s Row restaurant is artfully garnished with anchovies.
At the Lettuce Entertain You network of restaurants, Caesars show up on 18 of 26 local Lettuce restaurant menus. And despite an observation made by Jane and Michael Stern in ”Real American Food” that ”Unlike the vulgar democracy of the Cobb salad, the Caesar salad does not thrive on anything-goes ingenuity,” a lot more goes onto Caesar salads at Lettuce restaurants. Often, they`re made into a main course by the addition of grilled chicken, shrimp or calamari. But just as often, they come out plain and simple.
Rich Melman, president of the Lettuce restaurants, credits Caesar`s endurance to the fact that most people know just what to expect when they order it.
”For a lot of people, it`s a first step in the experience of eating out. They`ve heard of a Caesar salad, know what to expect and feel comfortable when they see it on the menu,” Melman said. ”In an age when comfort foods are popular, Caesar salads offer comfort in a new situation.”
ORIGINAL CAESAR SALAD
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Standing time: 4 to 5 days
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Rosa Cardini, daughter of the inventor of the salad, maintains this is the real McCoy, the very same salad that her father concocted in the 1920s. See the accompanying story about how to eliminate the possibility of salmonella in the eggs.
1/2 cup day-old bread, cubed
3/4 cup garlic oil, see note
2 small heads romaine lettuce, washed, crisped
1/2 teaspoon each: salt, freshly ground pepper
2 coddled eggs (cooked in boiling water in the shell exactly 1 minute)
Juice of 2 medium lemons
8-10 drops Worcestershire sauce
1/3- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1. Heat oven to 250 degrees. Toss the bread with 1/4 cup garlic oil. Spread on a baking sheet and bake, stirring often, until golden, about 25 minutes. Cool.
2. Tear the outer leaves of the romaine into 2-inch lengths. Leave the inner leaves whole.
3. Place lettuce in a large bowl and toss with remaining 1/2 cup garlic oil. Add salt and pepper and toss lightly 2 to 3 times. Add the coddled eggs, lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce; toss 2 to 3 times. Add croutons and cheese, toss lightly and serve on chilled plates.
Note: To make garlic oil, peel 4 to 5 cloves garlic. Place in a jar with 1 1/2 cups olive oil, preferably extra-virgin, seal tightly and refrigerate 4 to 5 days. Remove garlic.
SEAFOOD CAESAR
Preparation time: 35 minutes
Standing time: 4 hours or longer
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
With bruschetta (Italian toasted garlic bread) instead of croutons and the addition of fresh basil, this version strays pretty far from the original. It was created in the Tribune test kitchen.
Basil oil:
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, split
1/4 teapoon salt
Dressing:
3 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large egg yolk
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons each: balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt, freshly ground black pepper to taste
Seafood:
1 pound mixed shellfish, such as shrimp, scallops, lobster
Croutons:
8 slices Italian bread, about 3/8-inch thick
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 plum tomatoes, seeded, diced
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Salt to taste
Salad:
2 heads romaine lettuce, crisped
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, cut in fine strips
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1. For the basil oil, combine the oil, basil, garlic and salt; let stand at least 4 hours, but preferably 36 to 48 hours. Remove garlic.
2. For the dressing, heat the oven to 450 degrees. Place the unpeeled garlic cloves on a sheet of aluminum foil. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Fold up the foil to make a tight package. Bake until the garlic is tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Carefully unwrap and cool to room temperature.
3. Squeeze the soft garlic into a food processor or blender. Add the egg yolk, lemon juice, vinegar, Worcerstershire sauce and mustard. With the motor running, slowly add 9 tablespoons of the basil oil and mix well. Add the cheese, salt and pepper; mix well.
4. For seafood, pat selections dry and brush with 3 tablespoons of basil oil. Grill or broil until cooked. Cool to room temperature.
5. For the croutons, brush one side of the bread with 2 tablespoons of the basil oil and sprinkle with cheese. Bake in 450-degree oven until crisp and golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Combine the tomatoes, remaining 2 tablespoons basil oil, vinegar and salt. Spoon on the toasted croutons.
6. For the salad, combine the lettuce and basil in a large bowl. Toss with dressing to taste. Divide among 4 large, chilled plates and sprinkle with pepper. Arrange a portion of seafood over and sprinkle with cheese. Serve 2 croutons with each serving.
SOUTHWESTERN CAESAR SALAD
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
This recipe, adapted from chef Alan Latz`s version served at the Blue Mesa, can be topped with a charcoal grilled chicken breast for a main course offering.
Dressing:
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chopped jalapeno chili peppers
1 large egg yolk
1 3/4 teaspoons anchovy paste
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon each: salt, pepper
1 cup olive oil
Cilantro croutons:
1/4 cup ( 1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 clove garlic, minced
4 1-inch bias-cut slices bollilos (Mexican roll) or Italian bread
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salad:
2 small heads romaine lettuce, washed, crisped
1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
Additional Parmesan cheese for serving
1. For dressing, combine the garlic, jalapeno, egg yolk, anchovy paste, lemon juice, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, cheese, salt and pepper in a blender. Blend at low speed, slowly adding the oil. Dressing can be made a day in advance and refrigerated.
2. For the croutons, heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the butter, cilantro and garlic. Spread over bread; sprinkle with cheese. Arrange on a baking sheet. Bake until golden, 8 to 10 minutes; cool. Croutons can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container.
3. Tear romaine into pieces and mix with the corn. Add dressing to taste and toss gently. Serve on chilled plates, garnished with croutons and additional cheese. Add ground pepper to taste.
ECCENTRIC CHICKEN CAESAR SALAD
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Marinating time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Adapted from Scott Foster, chef at The Eccentric restaurant.
Chicken:
2 whole chicken breasts, split, skinned, boned
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons crushed garlic
Salad:
1 clove garlic
3-4 anchovies, patted dry
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons cold water
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons hot water
3/4 cup (3 ounces) grated Parmesan cheese
2 small heads romaine lettuce, washed, crisped
Freshly ground pepper
3/4 cup croutons
1. For the chicken, combine the oil, paprika and garlic in shallow dish;
add chicken; turn to coat and marinate in the refrigerator at least 30 minutes.
2. For salad, mince garlic in food processor or blender. Add anchovies, lemon juice, vinegar and water; mix thoroughly. Whisk egg yolk and mustard together in mixing bowl. Slowly whisk in pureed anchovy mixture, then olive oil. When all oil is added, add hot water and cheese.
3. Remove chicken from marinade, pat dry. Grill or broil until cooked, about 10 minutes. Cut crosswise into strips and keep warm.
4. Tear lettuce into bite-size pieces in large bowl. Toss with dressing to taste. Divide among 4 large chilled plates and sprinkle with freshly ground pepper. Arrange chicken over top, sprinkle with croutons and cheese.
