Salads are present on the tables practically all year round, although it is when the mercury rises the highest on the thermometer that they are most desirable. …
The story, which may have a lot of legend, claims that a restaurant in Tijuana (Mexico) in 1924 – other sources claim that it was in 1926 – was on the verge of dying of success. It was located a few meters from the border with the United States at the height of Prohibition and that caused many Americans to cross the border to avoid the prohibitions. The orders became such during the day of the 4th of July – the day of the national holiday of the United States – that even in the well-equipped kitchen of the establishment, food began to be scarce, and the chef and owner of the establishment, the immigrant from Italian origin, Cesare Cardine decided to improvise, drawing on his imagination from what he had left in the pantry, and the result was the Caesar salad.
Another version suggests that on that special date a large group of aviators arrived at the restaurant to celebrate the 4th of July, and Cardine – who had not expected this – had to improvise a dish that satisfied his customers.
The salad has become universal and that has meant that there are now various versions in the world
In any case, what he is supposed to have done, for one reason or another, was to mix with the greatest skill he could lettuce, garlic, hard-boiled and chopped eggs, small pieces of toasted bread, tomato, olive oil, diced parmesan cheese, lemon juice, black pepper, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and salt, and serve it. The success was immediate and the salad remained on the menu at Caesar’s Restaurant. The restaurant’s fame grew thanks to the success of its praised salad and even some Hollywood celebrities came to try it, according to the story, which contributed to the restaurant becoming a gastronomic ‘pilgrimage centre’. The Italian, infected by the spirit of his illustrious diners, turned the preparation of the salad into a show that was staged at the table, in front of the customers. There the sauce was emulsified with which the ‘solid’ ingredients were dressed.
From the United States, the Caesar salad made the jump to Europe across the Atlantic and then to the rest of the world, where it achieved universal character, and it has been precisely this global expansion that has made it now appear in every corner of the planet with a different version, although most of the ingredients are common to all of them.
Controversy
Among these ingredients, the culinary literature says that chicken must be included. In Cardine’s original recipe this element was not present, but now – generally in small pieces of breaded and fried breast, to give it a crunchy touch – it is an almost obligatory ingredient.
The presence of anchovies has also been the subject of controversy. Currently, most recipes include them, but Cardine’s daughter has claimed on multiple occasions that her father’s original recipe never included the presence of this fish.
In the same way, he pointed out that in Cesare’s recipe the lettuce leaves appeared whole so that they could serve (held by the stem) as a support for eating the salad, but this formula is currently completely discarded, and it is not common for it to be served So.
