The Invention Of The Cesar Salad

<  Ever wonder where the Caesar salad came from?  Not from Italy, as one might expect, but from Tijuana, Mexico!  It was invented by Italian immigrant Caesar Cardini in 1924, and is perhaps the most ordered salad on the planet. Cardini was a restaurant owner who lived in San Diego, but also owned restaurants in Mexico.  By owning restaurants in Mexico, he avoided Prohibition.  Just by chance, the Caesar salad was invented one summer evening at his Tijuana restaurant.

One 4th of July afternoon while preparing for the evening meal, Cardini ran low on many food items.  He improvised, by taking what he had left in the kitchen and adding additional ingredients.  He added some extra flair by having his new salad creation served tableside.  The Caesar salad was born.  Julia Child visited the restaurant with her parents and apparently made the following comments following her visit there.

  "My parents, of course, ordered the salad. Caesar himself rolled the big cart up to the table, tossed the romaine in a great wooden bowl, and I wish I could say I remembered his every move, but I don't. They only thing I see again clearly is the eggs. I can see him break 2 eggs over that romaine and roll them in, the greens going all creamy as the eggs flowed over them. Two eggs in a salad? Two one-minute coddled eggs? And garlic-flavored croutons, and grated Parmesan cheese? It was a sensation of a salad from coast to coast, and there were even rumblings of its success in Europe."

  Another myth debunked.  All these years you probably thought the Caesar salad came from Italy,  Thank you, Mr. Caesar Cardini, for creating my favorite salad.