Editing Caesar salad

{{short description|Green salad of romaine lettuce and croutons}}
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox food
| name               = Caesar salad
| image              = Caesar salad (2).jpg
| place_of_origin    = <!-- PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE THIS FIELD WITHOUT DISCUSSING IT ON THE TALK PAGE FIRST -->[[Mexico]]<!-- PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE THIS FIELD WITHOUT DISCUSSING IT ON THE TALK PAGE FIRST -->
| region             = <!-- PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE THIS FIELD WITHOUT DISCUSSING IT ON THE TALK PAGE FIRST -->[[Tijuana]], Baja California<!-- PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE THIS FIELD WITHOUT DISCUSSING IT ON THE TALK PAGE FIRST -->
| creator            = [[Caesar Cardini]]
| year               = 1924
| course             = {{ubl|[[Hors d'oeuvre]]|[[Multicourse meal]]}}
| served             = Chilled or room temperature
| main_ingredient    = [[Romaine lettuce]], [[crouton]]s, [[Parmigiano-Reggiano|Parmesan cheese]], [[lemon juice]], [[olive oil]], [[Egg (food)|egg yolks]], [[Worcestershire sauce]], [[anchovy (food)|anchovies]], (optionally) [[Dijon mustard]], [[black pepper]]
| variations         = Multiple
}}

A '''Caesar salad''' (also spelled '''Cesar''', '''César''' and '''Cesare'''), also known as '''Caesar's salad''', is a [[Salad#Green salad|green salad]] of [[romaine lettuce]] and [[crouton]]s [[Salad dressing|dressed]] with lemon juice (or lime juice), olive oil, eggs, [[Worcestershire sauce]], anchovies, garlic, [[Dijon mustard]], [[Parmesan]] and black pepper.

The salad was created on July 4, 1924, by [[Caesar Cardini]] at [[Caesar's]] in [[Tijuana]], Mexico, when the kitchen was overwhelmed and short on ingredients. It was originally [[Gueridon service|prepared tableside]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burke |first1=David |title=David Burke's New American Classics |last2=Choate |first2=Judith |date=2009 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-307-51943-6 |page=67 |chapter=Caesar salad |access-date=12 July 2016 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dHPvtWR6TkkC&pg=PA67 |archive-date=7 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210707002238/https://books.google.com/books?id=dHPvtWR6TkkC&pg=PA67 |url-status=live }}</ref> and it is still prepared tableside at the original venue.

== History ==
[[File:HotelCaesar.JPG|thumb|left|[[Caesar's|Hotel Caesar's]] in [[Avenida Revolución]] in [[Tijuana]]]]
[[File:Hotel Caesars poster (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|A poster inside Hotel Caesar's saying "Home of the legendary Caesar's Salad"]]
<!-- Please do not add the claim that this salad is attributed to Julius Caesar. Reliable sources do not exist for this claim, so if it is added, it will just be deleted again. -->

The salad's creation is generally attributed to the restaurateur [[Caesar Cardini]], an Italian immigrant who operated restaurants in Mexico and the United States.<ref name="obit">{{cite news |date=5 November 1956 |title=Cesar Cardini, Creator of Salad, Dies at 60 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |quote=Caesar Cardini, 60, credited with the invention of the Caesar salad, died [...]}}</ref> Cardini lived in [[San Diego]], but ran one of his restaurants, [[Caesar's]], in [[Tijuana]], Mexico, to attract American customers seeking to circumvent the restrictions of [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]]. His daughter, Rosa, recounted that her father invented the salad at the Tijuana restaurant when a [[Independence Day (United States)|Fourth of July]] rush in 1924 depleted the kitchen's supplies. Cardini made do with what he had, adding the dramatic flair of table-side tossing by the chef.<ref name="Rosa1">{{cite news |date=21 September 2003 |title=Rosa Cardini |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1442086/Rosa-Cardini.html |access-date=10 February 2012 |archive-date=27 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327103223/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1442086/Rosa-Cardini.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Some other accounts of the history state that Alex Cardini, Caesar Cardini's brother, made the salad, and that the salad was previously named the "Aviator Salad" because it was made for aviators who traveled over during Prohibition.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ryan |first=Patrick Spaulding |date=31 December 2022 |title=Una Corrida Extraordinaria |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4316277 |website=SSRN|ssrn=4316277 }}</ref> A number of Cardini's staff have also said that they invented the dish.<ref name="grant">{{cite web |last=Grant |first=Dorothy |date=15 June 2007 |title=Hail to all fathers, and hail Caesar! |url=http://www.tcpalm.com/lifestyle/columnists/bdorothy-grantb-hail-to-all-fathers-and-hail-caesar-ep-406261705-339371201.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308174344/http://www.tcpalm.com/lifestyle/columnists/bdorothy-grantb-hail-to-all-fathers-and-hail-caesar-ep-406261705-339371201.html |archive-date=8 March 2016 |access-date=17 December 2020 |website=[[TCPalm]] }}In , D. Grant quotes Aviator's salad and more (2007)</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The History of Caesar Salad |url=http://www.kitchenproject.com/history/CaesarSalad/index.htm |access-date=18 December 2020 |website=Kitchen Project |archive-date=2 July 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070702083956/http://www.kitchenproject.com/history/CaesarSalad/index.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> A popular myth attributes its invention to [[Julius Caesar]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Birrell |first=Nicki |date=July 4, 2024 |title=Caesar Centenary: What's the story behind the famous salad? |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/caesar-centenary-whats-the-story-behind-the-famous-salad/B4A3ERCRQBHGRG2TGZVBFQIYVY/ |access-date=July 10, 2024 |work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=O'Conner |first1=Patricia T |author-link1=Patricia T. O'Conner |title=Origins of the Specious: Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language |last2=Kellerman |first2=Stewart |author-link2=Stewart Kellerman |publisher=[[Random House]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-4000-6660-5 |location=New York |page=75}}</ref> A 2024 book<ref name="s242">{{cite book |last=Poblete |first=Claudio |title=Caesar: La Ensalada Mas Famosa |date=2024-07-12 |publisher=Larousse |isbn=978-607-21-2748-7}}</ref> confirmed the claim that Caesar Cardini originated the recipe. Livio Santini's son, Aldo, countered that his father provided the recipe while working as a cook in Cardini's restaurant.<ref name="u932">{{cite web |last=Jinich |first=Pati |date=2024-07-01 |title=The Century-Long Saga of the Caesar Salad |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/01/dining/caesar-salad.html |access-date=2024-12-01 |website=The New York Times}}</ref>

The American chef and writer [[Julia Child]] said that she had eaten a Caesar salad at [[Caesar's|Cardini's restaurant]] in her youth during the 1920s, made with whole [[romaine lettuce]] leaves, which were meant to be lifted by the stem and eaten with the fingers, tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice, [[Worcestershire sauce]], [[coddled egg]]s, [[Parmesan]], and [[Crouton|croutons]] made with garlic-infused oil.<ref name="child">{{cite book |last1=Child |first1=Julia |url=https://archive.org/details/fromjuliachildsk00chil |title=From Julia Child's Kitchen |last2=Child |first2=Paul |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |year=1975 |isbn=978-0-394-48071-8 |location=New York |author-link=Julia Child|pages=431–433}}</ref> In 1946, the newspaper columnist [[Dorothy Kilgallen]] wrote of a Caesar containing anchovies, differing from Cardini's version:

<blockquote>The big food rage in Hollywood—the Caesar salad—will be introduced to New Yorkers by Gilmore's Steak House. It's an intricate concoction that takes ages to prepare and contains (zowie!) lots of garlic, raw or slightly coddled eggs, croutons, romaine, anchovies, parmeasan{{Sic}} cheese, olive oil, vinegar and plenty of black pepper.<ref name="kilgallen">{{cite news |last=Kilgallen |first=Dorothy |date=1946-08-02 |title=The Voice of Broadway |pages=4 |work=The News-Herald (Franklin, Pennsylvania) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2731250/early-caesar-salad-reference/ |access-date=2020-12-18 |archive-date=2 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102134651/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2731250/early-caesar-salad-reference/ |url-status=live }}</ref></blockquote>

In a 1952 interview, Cardini said the salad became well known in 1937, when [[Manny Wolf]], story editor and [[Paramount Pictures]] writer's department head, provided the recipe to Hollywood restaurants.<ref name="stuff/10429532">{{cite news |last1=Hawkes |first1=Graham |title=Hail, Caesar's salad |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/10429532/Hail-Caesars-salad |access-date=13 February 2023 |publisher=Stuff|location=New Zealand |date=27 August 2014 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="kitchenproject/CaesarSalad">{{cite web |title=The History of Caesar Salad |url=https://www.kitchenproject.com/history/CaesarSalad/ |website=kitchenproject.com |access-date=13 February 2023}}</ref>

In the 1970s, Child published a recipe in her book ''[[From Julia Child's Kitchen]]'', based on an interview with Cardini's daughter, in which the ingredients are tossed one-at-a-time with the lettuce leaves.<ref name=child/> Cardini's daughter and several other sources have testified that the original recipe used only [[Worcestershire sauce]], not anchovies, mustard, or herbs, which Cardini considered too bold in flavor.<ref name=variations>{{cite news |last1=Witchel |first1=Alex |title=Great Caesar's Ghost! Where's My Anchovy? |work=The New York Times |date=7 March 2001 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/07/dining/great-caesar-s-ghost-where-s-my-anchovy.html |access-date=1 October 2022}}</ref><ref name=child/> Modern recipes typically include anchovies as a key ingredient, and are frequently emulsified or based on [[mayonnaise]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Best Caesar salad |url=https://www.seriouseats.com/amp/2013/10/ask-the-food-lab-caesar-salad-recipe.html |access-date=30 May 2018 |website=Seriouseats.com |archive-date=12 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612143727/https://www.seriouseats.com/amp/2013/10/ask-the-food-lab-caesar-salad-recipe.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Dressing ==

Bottled Caesar dressings are produced and marketed by many companies, including Cardini's, [[Bolthouse Farms]], [[Ken's Foods]], [[T. Marzetti Company|Marzetti]], [[Newman's Own]], [[Panera Bread]], [[Trader Joe's]], and [[Whole Foods Market]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gritzer |first1=Daniel |title=The Best Caesar Salad Dressings {{!}} Taste Test |url=https://www.seriouseats.com/taste-test-best-caesar-salad-dressings |website=Serious Eats |access-date=8 May 2024 |language=en |date=26 October 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Denton |first1=Korey |title=12 Best Grocery Store Caesar Dressings, Ranked Worst To Best |url=https://www.mashed.com/1190767/best-grocery-store-caesar-dressings-ranked-worst-to-best/ |website=Mashed |access-date=8 May 2024 |date=8 February 2023}}</ref> The trademark brands, "Cardini's", "Caesar Cardini's" and "The Original Caesar Dressing" are all claimed to date to February 1950, although they were only registered decades later.<ref>{{cite web|title=Serial numbers 73426710 "Cardini's", registered 1983 by Caesar Cardini Foods|url=https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=73426710&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch|website=United States Patent and Trademark Office|access-date=15 March 2022|archive-date=13 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210713022850/https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=73426710&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Serial numbers 73782270 "The Original Caesar Dressing" and "Caesar Cardini's", registered 1989 by Dolefam Corporation, which later merged with T. Marzetti|url=https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=73782270&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch|website=United States Patent and Trademark Office|access-date=15 March 2022|archive-date=13 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210713022850/https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=73782270&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch|url-status=live}}</ref>
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== Ingredients ==
[[File:Ensalada Caesar (35781809300) (cropped).jpg|thumb|Caesar salad at Caesar's restaurant]]

Common ingredients in many recipes:<ref name=variations/>
:* Romaine lettuce
:* olive oil
:* crushed garlic
:* salt
:* Dijon mustard
:* black pepper
:* lemon juice
:* [[Worcestershire sauce]]
:* anchovies
:* whole eggs or egg yolks, raw, [[poached egg|poached]] or [[Coddled egg|coddled]]
:* grated [[Parmigiano-Reggiano|Parmesan cheese]]
:* croutons

[[File:CaesarSalad3.jpg|thumb|Topped with [[grilled chicken]]]]

Variations include varying the leaf, adding meat such as grilled chicken or bacon, or omitting ingredients such as anchovies and eggs.<ref>{{cite web |title=Caesar Salad |url=https://search-credoreference-com.huaryu.kl.oakland.edu/content/entry/bloomfood/caesar_salad/0 |website=Credo Reference |publisher=Encyclopedia of American Foods |access-date=30 May 2022}}</ref> While the original Caesar's in Tijuana uses lime juice in their current recipe, most modern recipes use lemon juice or vinegar.<ref>{{cite web|last=Gora|first=L. Sasha|title=The surprising truth about Caesar salad|date=22 May 2019 |url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20190521-the-surprising-truth-about-caesar-salad|access-date=23 April 2021|publisher=BBC|archive-date=31 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210331043132/http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20190521-the-surprising-truth-about-caesar-salad|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=kilgallen/> 

Some chefs experiment more broadly with variations of the salad, using the familiar, appealing "Caesar" name to attract diners to dishes with a similar hit of "[[umami]], [[fat]], and tons of [[salt]]" that otherwise bear little resemblance to the original.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cushing |first=Ellen |date=2024-04-17 |title=Something Weird Is Happening With Caesar Salads |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2024/04/something-weird-happening-caesar-salads/678092/ |access-date=2024-04-19 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Food}}
* [[List of salads]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Greenfield |first=Terry D. |title=In Search of Caesar: The Ultimate Caesar Salad Book |publisher=Alexander Books |year=1996 |isbn=978-1-57090-014-3 |editor-last=Lorna Bolkey |editor-last2=Kathryn Hall}}
* {{cite book |last=Mariani |first=John F. |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer00mari |title=The Dictionary of American Food and Drink |publisher=Book Sales |year=1985 |isbn=978-0-89919-199-7}}
* {{cite book |last1=Stradley |first1=Linda |title=What's Cooking America |last2=Cook |first2=Andra |publisher=Chehalem Publishing |year=1997 |isbn=978-1-885221-55-1}}
* {{cite book |last=Trager |first=James |url=https://archive.org/details/foodchronologyf00trag |title=The Food Chronology: A Food Lover's Compendium of Events and Anecdotes, from Prehistory to the Present |publisher=Henry Holt and Company |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-8050-3389-2}}
* {{cite web |last1=Van Dyk |first1=Garritt C. |title=No croutons, no anchovies, no bacon: the 100-year-old Mexican origins of the Caesar salad |url=https://theconversation.com/no-croutons-no-anchovies-no-bacon-the-100-year-old-mexican-origins-of-the-caesar-salad-233099 |website=[[The Conversation (website)|The Conversation]] |access-date=28 July 2024 |date=3 July 2024}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
* [http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/SaladHistory.htm History of salads]

{{Salad dressings}}
{{Mexican cuisine}}
{{Salads}}

[[Category:Caesar salad| ]]
[[Category:1924 in Mexico]]
[[Category:American salads]]
[[Category:California culture]]
[[Category:Cuisine of the Western United States]]
[[Category:Mexican cuisine]]
[[Category:Salad dressings]]
[[Category:Vegetable dishes]]