Caeser Salad

This wondrous salad, with all its tableside showmanship by waiters, became a sensation in America soon after its invention. To many, including myself, this is the king of salads. It was probably the first 'main course' salad, and topped with chicken or fish is truly a main course.

Created in the 1920s, it has not only outlasted other 'classics' from the period but has grown in popularity ever since. The most likely, and most accepted, story of its creation has Caesar (Cesar) Cardini, a restaurant owner and chef in Tijuana, Mexico (sometimes referred to as an Italian immigrant) preparing it for a group of Hollywood movie stars, after a long weekend party in the 1920s. (Some have pinpointed it to 1924; at least one story says it was a group traveling with the Prince of Wales on his tour of North America). Their departure was delayed by morning rain, supplies at the restaurant were running low after the weekend, and he had to whip up a meal for the group before their return to Hollywood (or it was late one night as some stories go).

Caesar salad is best when made fresh: freshly squeezed lemon juice, freshly mashed garlic cloves, freshly ground black pepper, fresh garlic croutons, and freshly grated cheese. The egg should be coddled, but a raw egg can be used. Our slight variation here at Square One Restaurant is to use key lime juice instead of lemon juice.

In the late 1990's, Caesar salads were made illegal in California, by a new health law banning the sale of any food that used raw eggs as an ingredient. Presumably there was a black market for the contraband salad. The law was soon revised and the situation remedied in 1998.

Source: http://www.foodreference.com/html/artcaesarsalad.html