Caesar Salad is named for an Italian immigrant to the US, who also owned a hotel in Tijuana, Mexico.  His name was Caesar Cardini. The legend goes that in 1924 he once was in big shortage of vegetables in the kitchen on July 4th and tossed this salad together.  His restaurant was full with vacationing Americans. The Worcestershire sauce was later supplemented or even replaced by anchovies and the lime was later replaced by lemon juice. The umami taste of the sauce goes well with the crunch of the croutons. The Parmesan cheese flakes further contribute to the rich taste of this salad. Other typical ingredients of the sauce are minced garlic, a raw egg yolk, olive oil and Parmesan cheese. Some further variations include the addition of fried bacon pieces or even grilled chicken breast.

The art of making Caesar Salad

Important is to use crunchy lettuce leaves. When washing the salad well ahead of the meal, store the leaves wrapped in a clean, moist kitchen towel in the refrigerator.  Shaving the Parmesan cheese can be done ahead. Also the dressing can be made ahead of time. The dressing can be made off a base of a good mayonnaise. Alternatively, make it from scratch using a raw egg yolk, lemon juice, some honey and olive oil. Always use pressed garlic and anchovies in the dressing as well. Add the croutons and pine nuts, when using, just before tossing the salad. Use the pepper mill when served.

Special equipment

a bowl

whisk

fork

caesar salad ©️ Nel Brouwer-van den Bergh

Caesar Salad

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Prep Time 15 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Course Appetizer, Lunch, Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine American, Italian
Servings 6

Ingredients
  

Making the sauce

  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 6 tbsp sunflower, rape seed or olive oil or a mixture
  • 2-3 salted anchovy fillets
  • 1/2 lemon
  • 1 tsp white wine vinegar
  • a pinch of salt
  • a squeeze of honey
  • 1 clove garlic
  • squeeze of the black pepper mill
  • 1 tbsp shaved Parmesan cheese

The salad

  • 1 cup croutons (store bought; if self made see remarks
  • 1/2 cup shaved Parmesan cheese

Instructions
 

Making the sauce

  • juice the half lemon
  • Mix the egg yolk with the mustard, some salt, some pepper, the vinegar and 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • Add a squeeze of honey
  • Start adding the oil under vigorous whisking
  • When the mayonnaise is getting thick, make the anchovies small with a fork and mix.
  • Add the Parmesan
  • Check the consistency: this sauce should be slightly thinner than mayonnaise
  • If required add some lemon juice

Bringing the salad together

  • Shave the Parmesan by using a slicer/shaver and a hard piece of Parmesan
  • Mix the salad leaves, the dressing, the shaved Parmesan and the croutons, just before serving. You could toss it at the table as Caesar did for his guests

Notes

Method: raw
Food allergy & intolerance information: dairy
Keyword anchovies, Caesar Salad, croutons, garlic, lemon juice, lime

Remarks

  1. I prefer to make the dressing fresh and from scratch. But second best is to start off from a mayonnaise base. For working from scratch, looking at the mayonnaise recipe may be useful.
  2. The anchovies come from my salted anchovies storage, but you can also take them from a tin. I always place them in a shallow dish with water for a minute and then dry them on a paper kitchen towel before using.

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