Some of the history of salad
In 1924, many wealthy Americansbusinessmen and Hollywood stars went to Mexico to celebrate the main holiday of their country - the Independence Day of the USA. Since there were no problems with alcohol in Cardini's restaurant, his establishment was overcrowded with customers. But the situation with food was bad - they were almost out. Then Cardini, showing culinary ingenuity, made a salad from the remaining ingredients. He put lettuce leaves on a plate rubbed with garlic, sprinkled them with olive oil and lemon juice, added boiled eggs, grated Parmesan, made croutons and Worcestershire sauce. He mixed all the products and served on the table. This dish was loved by Americans, and in 1953 the Caesar salad was named the best culinary recipe that appeared in America over the past 50 years.
Classic Caesar recipe
To prepare Caesar salad according to the classic recipe, you will need the following products:
- a head of iceberg lettuce or romaine lettuce. You should know that iceberg is sweet and does not have a very pronounced taste, while romaine is more tart and spicy;
- 40 g or 2 tbsp. spoons of grated Parmesan cheese;
- egg;
- 100 g of a loaf or white bread;
- 300 g chicken fillet (optional);
- olive oil;
- clove of garlic;
- lemon;
- Worcestershire sauce, another name for it is Worcestershire sauce;
- black pepper, salt.
It is necessary to thoroughly wash the lettuce leaves anddry them. Then you need to prepare croutons, that is, toasts. To do this, take white bread or a loaf, cut off the crust, and cut what is left into cubes with a side of 1 cm. Keep the sliced bread in a preheated oven until it is browned, but not more than 10 minutes. Do not forget to turn the croutons in the oven several times. Prepare the dressing for the croutons: crush a clove of young garlic, add a spoonful of olive oil to it and heat it up. After a while, dip the croutons into the mixture, mix well and take them out onto a plate. Prepare the salad dressing Properly prepared sauce is the basis of a delicious Caesar salad. The sauce according to the classic recipe is prepared in this way. Pour in the egg, add chopped garlic, 2-3 drops of Worcestershire sauce, cheese, mix the ingredients. You can use a food processor or blender. Pour a little olive oil into the sauce in a thin stream. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon and add to the dressing. Evaluate the sauce: it should not be too thick, if necessary, you can dilute it with boiled water. Add salt and ground black pepper to your taste. To give the sauce a piquant taste, you can add anchovy fillet to the sauce. It is not necessary to chop the anchovies, you can put them on top of the prepared salad. Rub the plate prepared for "Caesar" with garlic. Tear the washed and dried lettuce leaves with your hands and put them on a plate. Mix the salad with the sauce, sprinkle with croutons and grated Parmesan. You can add chicken to the classic "Caesar" prepared in this way. Cut the chicken fillet into small pieces, fry in oil with garlic and add to the salad.
Secrets and tips for making Caesar salad
- To make the salad crunchy, place it for 15 minutes in ice water. Water can be taken in the refrigerator or cooled on the balcony in the winter season.
- Egg for sauce is better not to use raw, andcooked according to this recipe: gently pierce it from the blunt end and drop it for exactly one minute into freshly boiled, but not boiling water. Then the egg should be cooled. But for cooking in this way only an egg of room temperature, which you need to get out of the refrigerator first.
- If you did not find a Worcester sauce, replace it with mustard.
- If you want the chicken in the salad to be not toasted, but soft and tender, marinate it in a spoonful of soy sauce.
- The most delicious are the toasts from the underfed, and after the dried baguette.
- If you use anchovies for a sauce, take them only in oil without any additives.
- Any salads in which there are leaves should be mixed with two spoons. This is necessary so as not to damage the structure of the leaves.
- Caesar salad should be made immediately before serving, but you can make the sauce in advance using the classic recipe. It can be stored in the refrigerator for 3 days.
- All blended ingredients of the dish should be cold.
- "Caesar" can be garnished with quartered eggs, cherry tomatoes, anchovies or olives.
