Have lettuce, lemons, garlic? Make Caesar Salad!

               Caesar Salad ingredients assembled on our table tonight

Caesar Salad is a favourite salad at our place. We have our own lettuce, lemons and garlic most of the year, and our own olive oil is just a matter of waiting for the trees to get bigger and give more fruit. (Oh - and building an olive press.)

I could make bread for the croutons as well, but for tonight's salad I used three day old organic ciabatta bread from Vic's Bakehouse, which makes excellent croutons. The recipe I use for Caesar Salad is the one given by Anna Thomas in The Vegetarian Epicure Book Two (Alfred A Knopf, 1979) which she says is, ''according to reliable sources'', very close to the original recipe invented by the eponymous Caesar Cardini.

Julia Child must be the reliable source she is referring to, since she actually ate Caesar Salad prepared by Caesar Cardini in the 1920s, and her recipe is much the same as the one Anna Thomas gives. Her description of eating Caesar Salad as tossed by Caesar is also worth reading.

The original Caesar Salad has no anchovies, and certainly no bacon, chicken, salmon, olives, herbs or other 'pollutants'. Nor does it have a pre-prepared dressing, but rather it is dressed at the table from the basic ingredients.
Since this means that it gets quite a tossing, it is important that the lettuce used is robust. The best kind to use is what is known as cos lettuce in NZ (Americans call it romaine). Here is how we made it tonight.

                                  CAESAR SALAD
                                               (for two)

Ingredients

croutons (made from half a loaf of ciabatta bread, or half a baguette)
2-3 T olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 free-range egg
juice of 1 large lemon
1/4 - 1/2 C extra virgin olive oil
1/3 C freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 heads of cos lettuce (or equivalent)
dash of Worcestershire sauce
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Method

Cut the bread into bite-sized croutons, place them on an oven tray and dry them in a medium heat oven for about 20 minutes.
Heat the tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan, add the crushed garlic, and toss the croutons in the garlic oil over a low heat for about 5 minutes. (Until they are nice and garlicky.) Put the croutons in a bowl.
Bring a small pot of water to the boil, add the egg and boil it for exactly 1 minute. Drain the pot, run cold water over the egg briefly, then set it aside in a small bowl.
Squeeze the lemon, and put the juice in a small jug.
Measure the extra virgin olive oil into another small jug.
Wash and dry the lettuce leaves thoroughly, tear them into bite-sized pieces, and put them in the salad bowl.
Grate the Parmesan cheese and put it in a bowl.
Mix the salad in the following order:
1. Pour half the oil over the lettuce leaves, and toss gently.
2. Break the egg over the lettuce and toss again.
3. Add more oil, and toss.
4. Add the lemon juice and toss.
5. Add a dash or two of Worcestershire sauce, and toss.
6. Add salt and pepper, to taste. (To my taste, neither are necessary.)
7. Add the Parmesan cheese, and toss.
8. Add the croutons, toss, taste, and add more oil and seasonings if desired.

Serve at once, or, if you would like to provide guests with a safer at-table entertainment than flambeeing pancakes, put all the ingredients in attractive bowls and jugs, and make the salad at the table before their astonished eyes.