StarterAI

Caesar Salad

Name: Caesar Salad
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 500 g Romaine lettuce; 400 g Chicken breast; 100 g Croutons; 80 g Parmigiano Reggiano, grated; 1 piece Eggs; 6 piece Anchovy fillets in oil; 1 piece Garlic cloves; 10 g Dijon mustard; 20 ml Lemon juice; 100 ml Extra-virgin olive oil; 4 g Fine sea salt; 3 g Ground black pepper

Romaine, a proper anchovy-and-egg dressing, parmesan and croutons, with chicken on top. The dressing is the recipe; everything else is assembly.

Prep: 20 min
Cook: 15 min
Difficulty: Intermediate

About this dish

Caesar Cardini ran a restaurant in Tijuana during American prohibition, and the salad is said to have been improvised on a busy Fourth of July in 1924 from what was left in the kitchen. The original was leaves left whole, to be picked up by the stalk and eaten with the fingers, and it had no chicken — that came later, along with the bottled dressing that is now what most people think a Caesar tastes like. The anchovy is not optional and never was; Cardini used Worcestershire, which is anchovy by another route.

Not vegetarian because of Chicken breast, Anchovy fillets in oil
Contains gluten because of Croutons
Contains dairy because of Parmigiano Reggiano, grated

Ingredients

4servings

500gRomaine lettuce
400gChicken breast
100gCroutons
80gParmigiano Reggiano, grated
1pieceEggs
6piecesAnchovy fillets in oil
1pieceGarlic cloves
10gDijon mustard
20mlLemon juice
100mlExtra-virgin olive oil
4gFine sea salt
3gGround black pepper

Instructions

Season the chicken, sear it in a little of the oil over medium-high heat for about 12 minutes, turning once, and let it rest before slicing.
12 min
Tip: Rest it before slicing, not after. Cut straight from the pan, the juices run onto the board instead of staying in the meat, and dry chicken on a cold salad is very dry indeed.
Lower the egg into boiling water for exactly 1 minute, then cool it. Crack it into a bowl and scrape out the barely-set white.
3 min
Tip: One minute is a coddled egg — thickened, not cooked. It is what makes this dressing cling instead of sliding off. If raw egg is a concern, use a pasteurised one; the texture is identical.
Mash the anchovies and garlic to a paste, whisk in the egg, mustard and lemon, then trickle in the oil, whisking, until thick.
6 min
Tip: Trickle, do not pour. This is a mayonnaise and it splits for the same reason any mayonnaise does — oil added faster than the yolk can take it. If it splits, start again with a fresh yolk and beat the broken mixture into it.
Whisk in most of the parmesan and taste. It should be sharper than seems sensible.
3 min
Tip: Sharper than seems sensible, because the leaves are about to dilute it by a factor of five. A dressing that tastes balanced in the bowl tastes of nothing on the salad.
Tear the romaine into a wide bowl, add the dressing and turn until every leaf is coated. Top with the chicken, croutons and remaining parmesan.
4 min
Tip: Dress at the last possible moment. Romaine is crisp because of the water in it, and salt and acid start pulling that water out from the second they touch it.