No shortcuts. No cheat ingredients. Our new series takes the view that if something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right. Each month we’ll take a deep-dive into a classic dish, delving into the processes and analysing why it tastes so good, then we’ll give you our ultimate recipe. First up: Pollyanna Coupland restores the reputation of her favourite salad
Best of the best.
Probably the world’s most famous salad (and, in my opinion, the world’s best), the caesar throws up many questions when in search of the perfect recipe. Worcestershire sauce or anchovies? What about mustard? How should the parmesan be added? What else can you throw in there before it becomes a different salad altogether?
I’m not going to insult you (or the salad’s original creator, Caesar Cardini) by incorporating dairy into the dressing, nor am I a fan of the unnecessary addition of pallid slices of chicken breast. Done properly, caesar dressing is perfectly creamy and flavourful enough to turn humble leaves and old bits of bread into something wondrous.
As with many classic dishes, caesar salad was invented by mistake. It’s also a relatively recent creation. In 1924, Mr Cardini, an Italian chef working in Tijuana, Mexico, was running low on ingredients and needed to knock something together with what was left in the fridge. A made-up-on-the-spot dressing for a handful of leaves and croutons was given flair by mixing everything together tableside. Within a decade, it was appearing on restaurant menus throughout the US. Nearly 100 years later, it reigns supreme in the salad charts.
THE BEST DRESSING
A good caesar dressing should be salty, tangy, creamy and just thick enough to cling to the salad leaves. It’s an egg-and-oil-based emulsion – like mayonnaise – but less likely to split thanks to anchovies and garlic, which help to stabilise it. It can be made by hand, involving lots of beating with a fork, but a small blender makes the job easier.
If you were to follow the authentic route, your dressing would include lime juice instead of lemon, and Worcestershire sauce instead of anchovies. Lemon and anchovies are more commonly used today and, after trying both versions, I’m sticking with them. The lime juice is okay but makes the salad lack familiarity; anchovies add bags more umami than Worcestershire sauce and help thicken the dressing while they’re at it.
Garlic adds a sharpness to cut through the creamy dressing. Some people add mustard for a little whack of heat, but I prefer to rely on plenty of black pepper instead. P
