Real salad
Description
The salad is quick and easy to prepare. Its authorship is attributed to a certain Caesar Cardini. This enterprising American of Italian descent owned several restaurants during the 1920s–1940s, not in the USA—where Prohibition was in full force at the time—but on the Mexican side of the border, which allowed Cardini to serve alcoholic beverages. On July 4, 1924, during American Independence Day celebrations, a group of Hollywood filmmakers burst into one of his restaurants, loudly demanding food. As luck would have it, the kitchen was nearly empty, so the owner had to improvise a dish using only the ingredients on hand. In short, "I made it from whatever was available" :) The result was not just a salad, but one of the most popular dishes in American cuisine worldwide. There are hundreds of variations today, but I offer you a recipe for the authentic "Caesar" salad, prepared according to Cardini's original technique—as I understand it, of course. I think you'll enjoy it. The salad is ready to serve.
Instructions
- 1
Step 1
Wash the lettuce leaves, dry them, and tear each leaf into 2-4 pieces by hand.
- 2
Step 2
Cut off the crust from the baguette and cut it into cubes about 1x1 centimeter.
- 3
Step 3
Crush a garlic clove. Rub the inside of the saucepan in which the sauce will be prepared, then add it to a skillet with heated olive oil (3-4 tablespoons) and cook for 30 seconds.
- 4
Step 4
Place the pieces of baguette in a skillet and mix well to coat them evenly with oil. Transfer to a baking sheet and bake in the oven until golden brown.
- 5
Step 5
Lower the eggs into boiling water for 1 minute, then cool them down. I'm not sure why this step is necessary—perhaps to eliminate any possible bacteria in the egg, or maybe so that part of the egg white coagulates—but the classic Caesar salad recipe is adamant: this is how it must be done!
- 6
Step 6
Squeeze the juice from half a lemon.
- 7
Step 7
In a sauce dish previously rubbed with garlic, whisk together eggs, mustard, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and lemon juice. Gradually, drop by drop, add olive oil while continuing to whisk. The result should be a slightly uneven sauce with a consistency similar to kefir.
- 8
Step 8
Grate the Parmesan cheese on a grater.
- 9
Step 9
Place the salad leaves in a bowl and drizzle with the dressing. Gently toss. Add the cooled croutons on top of the salad. Drizzle with more dressing. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan. And that's it — now you know how to make a real Caesar salad!