Caesar salad"

Caesar salad with chicken and crackers is probably able to compete with Olivier in its popularity, appearing on both the everyday and the festive table with enviable regularity.

Perhaps the fault is a very simple composition - at least for its well-known modifications; or maybe its role was played by the taste of versatility, because it can be combined with almost any side dish and hot dish. Practically every hostess has in the culinary book his favorite recipe for Caesar salad. But is everyone familiar with its original version?

Features cooking salad "Caesar"

Surprisingly, this dish has nothing to do with the Roman Empire, although there are many versions of its origin. The most common is the story that occurred in the early 20th century, when the hotel-restaurant of the American Caesar Cardini on Independence Day turned out to be nothing to treat many guests. I had to wriggle out of the situation and were content with what we had: use garlic cloves, romano leaf salad, olive oil, eggs, lemon juice, parmesan, roasted white bread and sauce. The visitors were delighted, it was decided to patent the recipe, however, it received the names of "Cardini" and "Original Caesar", because the salad was quickly sold among the inhabitants. After half a century, he was recognized as the best of all that was born during this time, and this dish still has the greatest demand among salads, not only in America, but throughout Europe, as well as in Russia.

• Thus, in the classic simple Caesar salad recipe, there has never been any chicken, no shrimp, or any other animal protein. Mayonnaise among the methods of refueling, too, was never present. All this appeared after various modifications, some of which distanced the final dish from its original to an unimaginable distance.
• If you want to try a real, “right” salad from 1924, take care of the dressing: it uses lemon juice, olive oil, fresh parmesan, black pepper and chicken eggs of the highest category. Worcester sauce is also needed, which is based on 23 ingredients, including vinegar, celery, seasonings, fish and corn syrup; It is extremely difficult to prepare it yourself, therefore, in the absence of it, it is better to eliminate it altogether or replace it with mustard.
• Eggs for his salad (in the dressing) Cardini prepared in a special way: first, he brought them to room temperature by removing from the refrigerator 5-6 hours before starting work, then boiling water for cooking, removed it from the heat, and before lowering it into her egg, pierced it from a blunt end. Due to the fact that the hole was made under the air cushion, white and yolk did not flow. After a minute, the eggs had to be removed, cleaned and mixed with the rest of the ingredients of the dressing. It is noteworthy that the yolk in the salad was not used: it was necessary to scrape out only the squirrel grappling in boiling water.

As for the rather well-known variety of this dish with anchovies, the world owes its birth to Caesar's brother Cardini, Alex. True, at that time, such a modification, called an aviator’s salad, didn’t receive any particular enthusiasm, but today the recipe occupies an honorable place among the variety of variations of Caesar, being an excellent alternative for seafood lovers.

Original Caesar salad recipe with step-by-step photos and professional advice

To make the salad taste the same as Caesar’s Place, make sure all ingredients are fresh, especially eggs. If you are afraid of salmonella, replace chicken eggs with quail - they will need 2-3 pieces to "catch up" by weight. They are prepared for work in the same way as chicken.

Composition:

• Large Egg - 1 pc.
• Lemon - 1 pc.
• Parmesan or any hard cheese - 55 g
• Salt - Pinch
• Ground black pepper - 1 tsp.
• Extra virgin olive oil - 2 tbsp.
• Worcester sauce - 1 tbsp.
• Garlic cloves - 3 pcs.
• Lettuce leaves - a bunch
• Fresh white loaf - 100 g
• Basil - bunch

Cooking:

1. Wash the room temperature egg well, pierce with a knife from the blunt end so that a very small hole is formed, but the internal film protecting the liquid from leakage has not been damaged. Using a skimmer, immerse the egg in boiling water, hold for 1-1.5 minutes, turn off the fire under the hotplate, and then transfer it to the board with the same skimmer. It is not recommended to lower into cold water. As a result, the protein will remain liquid, but heat treatment will kill possible infections.
2. Pass the crushed garlic cloves through the press, rub the pulp in the dish for serving, place the rest in a small container. There also pour olive oil from crackers, lemon juice half, which is most convenient to get, if you cut the citrus along, and not across. Pour salt and ground pepper, mix.
3. At the loaf cut the crust, crumb the crumb into squares, scatter on a baking tray covered with parchment or foil. In a small bowl, mix the olive oil and Worcester sauce, chop the basil with a knife and discard here. Let the butter stand for 10-15 minutes, then sprinkle the mixture with the mixture and send them to the oven heated to 190 degrees for 15-20 minutes. before browning.
4. You can make crackers in another way, more "high-calorie", but considered traditional: warm olive oil with basil in a frying pan, throw in a batch of pieces of bread, fry on each side for 2-3 minutes, then remove and lay a new portion. The remaining olive oil (calcined) will need to be put into a salad dressing.
   
5. Smash the cooled egg in the same bowl, whisk it. Rub hard cheese on the shallow side of the grater: choose varieties with a nutty flavor to get as close as possible to the original recipe - Dutch, Altai, Cheddar, Swiss will do. Add cheese to the egg, pour in the same lemon-oil liquid, Worcester sauce, mix the dressing well.

Break the leafy salad with your hands, put it on the prepared dish, pour the croutons on it, pour the dressing, fluff the ingredients. If desired, you can not enter into her cheese, and decorate them with the ready-made salad on top. You can also mix lettuce and croutons in a bowl before transferring them to the dish.

Hearty Caesar Salad with Chicken

Despite the fact that Caesar Cardini was an American, Italian blood flowed in his veins, and the salad that glorified him turned out to be purely Italian: simple, unusually tasty and very light. But bad luck - for most, it became too dietary, because the basis was made up of green leaves and crackers. That is why variations on the theme of Caesar with meat and fish additions appeared rather quickly. The most famous of them was the one in which they included chicken breast. The dish remained light and suitable for any diet, but it was already much better saturated.

Composition:

• Chicken fillet - 400 g
• Lettuce - a bunch
• White bread (loaf) - 70 g
• Garlic cloves - 2 pcs.
• Cherry tomatoes - 5 pcs.
• Semi-hard cheese - 50 g
• Lettuce leaf red - 2-3 leaves
• Mustard without seeds - 1 tbsp.
• Olive oil - 2 tbsp.
• Spices - to taste
• Lemon Juice - 50 ml
• Lime juice - 50 ml
• Anchovies - 50 g

Cooking:

1. The main component of this dish is the sauce. Crush anchovies, squeeze juice from lime and lemon, mix with mustard and anchovies, leave for 20-30 minutes. It is important not to turn the anchovies into a puree, since after a specified time they must be removed: only their taste and flavor should remain in the dressing.
2. White bread, rubbed with garlic cloves, cut in half, chop into small cubes and process with olive oil. Put the baking tray with bread in the oven heated to 200 degrees for 15 minutes, it is best to place it on the upper level, for a very clear golden crust. From time to time, turn the crackers, otherwise they will burn on one side, and they will not fry at all on the opposite.
3. Chicken breast hold in cold water for 1-1.5 hours, cut into large cubes. Pour salt, pepper and chopped herbs onto a dry preheated frying pan, after 1-1.5 minutes. Add olive oil, add chicken and fry on each side over medium heat until distinct crust. After that, cover the pan with a lid, hold the meat for another 10-15 minutes. on low heat so that it comes to readiness from within. The total frying time will be only 25-30 minutes.

Put lettuce leaves on a common dish, fried fillet on top of a heap, then half of cherry tomatoes, crackers and dressing, to which grated cheese was clearly added. Fork gently mix the ingredients.

Light Caesar Grilled Chicken & Shrimp

This salad is even more satisfying than the previous one, but at the same time it will appeal to meat lovers and seafood lovers. The original taste is preserved due to the correct dressing, as well as the traditional bundle of garlic, olive oil and white fried bread. The highlight will be Peking cabbage, replacing lettuce leaves.

Composition:

• Quail eggs - 3 pcs.
• Warm shrimp - 10 pcs.
• Chicken fillet - 200 g
• Beijing cabbage - 200 g
• White bread - 100 g
• Olive oil - 50 ml + for frying
• Lemon juice - 2 tbsp.
• Garlic cloves - 3 pcs.
• Hard cheese - 50 g
• Pepper ground black and red - 1 tsp.
• Salt large - pinch
• Cherry tomatoes for decoration

Cooking:

1. Wash the eggs, put in boiling water, boil for 6 minutes, so that not only white but also yolk will set. Transfer skimmer in cold water, leave for a while.
2. Shrimp throw in boiling water for 2 minutes, then remove the shell from them, remove the tail and head, as well as food thread on the back. Heat the pan without oil, put the shrimp on it, fry on each side until a reddish tint appears.
3. Chop white bread into cubes, sprinkle with olive oil, fry in the same pan. During the frying process you can sprinkle it with a mixture of peppers.
4. Wash chicken fillet, rub with salt and garlic passed through the press. Without cutting, fry on both sides in a pan with olive oil. When a crust appears, cut into thin transverse plates, fry each of them over medium heat, put on a paper towel to get rid of excess fat.
5. Cut eggs into halves, combine with all prepared components, as well as hand-shredded Peking cabbage. Season with olive oil mixed with lemon juice, sprinkle with cheese, put on a common dish.

Did Caesar Cardini know that a randomly created combination of fairly simple products would become so successful and spread around the world, receiving more than a hundred variations? Hardly. And, despite the fact that he himself would hardly have appreciated such changes in the original recipe, as he didn’t even appreciate the addition of anchovies to his brother, any of the versions of Caesar has the right to life. Choose the one you like and enjoy!