The Caesar Salad: Celebrating a Culinary MilestoneThe Caesar Salad: Celebrating a Culinary Milestone Introduction The beloved Caesar salad has reached an impressive milestone: its 100th anniversary. This iconic dish, characterized by its crisp romaine lettuce, creamy dressing, and sharp Parmesan cheese, has captured the hearts of food enthusiasts for generations. Origins The Caesar salad was reportedly invented on July 4, 1924, by Italian immigrant Caesar Cardini at his restaurant, Caesar’s Place, in Tijuana, Mexico. Inspired by a shortage of ingredients due to Prohibition, Cardini combined romaine leaves, garlic oil, Worcestershire sauce, lemons, eggs, and Parmesan cheese in a memorable culinary improvisation. Triumphant Spread Over the years, the Caesar salad gained popularity, becoming a mainstay on restaurant menus across the United States. Its versatility allowed for numerous variations, including the addition of chicken, bacon, or seafood, making it a crowd-pleaser. Restaurants even incorporated tableside preparation to enhance its theatrical appeal. Secret to Popularity The Caesar salad’s enduring appeal stems from its ideal blend of textures and flavors. The crunchy romaine paired with the creamy dressing and the salty umami of Parmesan cheese creates a satisfying and indulgent experience. It also appeals to the health-conscious, offering a balance of vitamins and minerals. Variations and Innovations While Cardini remained steadfast in his original recipe, modern chefs have embraced experimentation. Today, Caesar salads boast a range of ingredients, such as yogurt-based dressings, kale or Brussels sprouts instead of romaine, and even tofu in place of egg yolks. Legacy The Caesar salad has become a global culinary treasure, enjoyed in countless renditions worldwide. Its creator, Caesar Cardini, is remembered as a culinary pioneer who left an indelible mark on the world of gastronomy. As we celebrate its centennial, let us appreciate the enduring legacy of this beloved dish.
The Caesar salad has something to celebrate: it’s 100 years old.
Italian immigrant Caesar Cardini is said to have invented the dish on July 4, 1924, at his restaurant, Caesar’s Place, in Tijuana, Mexico. It was a sultry night, and Cardini was struggling to feed the influx of Californians who had crossed the border to escape Prohibition.
In the middle of the dining room, Cardini threw whole romaine leaves with ingredients he had on hand, including garlic oil, Worcestershire sauce, lemons, eggs and Parmesan cheese. A star was born.
Tijuana plans to celebrate the anniversary this month with a three-day food and wine festival and the unveiling of a statue of Cardini. Caesar’s — an elegant restaurant Cardini opened in Tijuana a few years after the salad was born — says it still makes about 300 Caesar salads a day.
Unlike some other menu items from the early 20th century—think creamed liver loaf or aspic—Caesar salad remains an enduring favorite. About 35% of U.S. restaurants have Caesar salad on their menus, according to Technomic, a restaurant consulting firm. And nearly 43 million bottles of Caesar salad dressing—or $150 million worth—were sold in the U.S. last year, according to Nielsen IQ.
Beth Forrest, a professor of liberal arts and applied food studies at the Culinary Institute of America, said it took a few years for Caesar salad to go mainstream. A recipe for it didn’t make it into “Joy of Cooking,” one of the most popular American cookbooks, until the 1951 edition. In the 1960s and 1970s, Caesar salad was often prepared tableside, which gave it spectacle and sophistication, she said.
Forrest said Caesar salad is ideal for the Western palate because it has our two favorite textures: crunchy and creamy. The egg yolks and Parmesan cheese are also high in glutamic acids, which give the salad the rich, salty flavor known as “umami.”
“It satisfies us in many hedonistic ways, while still allowing us to feel virtuous. It is a salad after all,” Forrest said.
Caesar’s many variations have also made it a keeper, experts say. Chefs can add chicken, bacon or salmon, stir in kale or Brussels sprouts and make the dressing from miso paste or tofu.
At Beatrix, a five-restaurant chain in Chicago that makes healthier versions of comfort food, chef and partner Andrew Ashmore spreads a spoonful of yogurt-based dressing in the bottom of a salad bowl and tosses it with capers, parsley, lemon vinaigrette, and Champagne vinegar. Then he adds little gem lettuce, baby arugula, breadcrumbs, and a generous amount of Grada Padano cheese.
“It’s our best-selling salad, and it’s been since we opened 11 years ago,” Ashmore said. “I couldn’t take it off the menu even if I wanted to.”
Cardini was not given to varying his recipe. In a 1987 interview with the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, his daughter Rosa Cardini said her father was meticulous in preparing his creation. He used only the tender, inner leaves of romaine lettuce and left them whole, intending for diners to pick them up with their fingers. He boiled the eggs for a minute before adding them, and he didn’t use anchovies.
There is some debate about the salad’s origins. Some claim that the recipe actually came from the mother of Livio Santini, one of Cardini’s chefs and a fellow Italian immigrant. Others say that Cardini’s brother Alex was the creator of the salad, which he made with limes and anchovy paste. Alex’s version was called the “Aviator’s Salad” because he reportedly served it to pilots at a base in San Diego.
Forrest said the recipe also echoes old Italian specialties. It resembles a pinzimonio, an olive oil and lemon juice dressing used as a vegetable dip, or a bagna cauda, a hot anchovy and garlic dip from the Piedmont region where Cardini was born.
Caesar’s in Tijuana did not respond to a request from The Associated Press about the salad’s history, but the restaurant does mention Santini’s name on its website.
Business in Tijuana declined after the end of Prohibition, so Caesar Cardini moved his family to Los Angeles in 1935. They bottled their Caesar dressing at home before eventually founding Caesar Cardini Foods Inc.
Rosa Cardini took over the family business in 1956 after her father’s death, eventually adding 17 other dressings. T. Marzetti, a maker of dressings and dips, acquired Cardini Foods in 1996 and continues to sell Caesar Cardini brand dressings.
Durbin reported from Detroit.
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