In the Cupboard

It goes without saying that Caesar is the king of salads, conquering nations and enslaving its people. The Caesar: assertive garlic, citrus, and pepper on tumescent greens glistening under a dewey veil the color of cornsilk.  The beauty of the common Cesar Salad (Caesarius banalus) is that it give us everything we crave: saltiness (from the parmesian or pecorino cheese), crunchiness from the lettuce, and of course, creamy garliciness. The Cesar Salad is kids food gussied up for show at the adult diningroom table.

My Cesar Salad is a true fighting Cesar.  Obviously if you have a last name like Vongerichten and a stable of passionate sous chefs and “a privately owned auberge situated in the French Huguenot valley of Franschhoek” and chicken eggs raised on grubs fed from the chef’s virgin daughter’s own lips, then, maybe, just maybe, your Cesar can compete with my Cesar Salad–but your sous chefs will still be perfectly happy sitting at my peasant’s table.

To make the best Cesar Salad, one delicate enough to precede almost any meal yet hearty enough to suffice as meal in itself:

1. Cut three or four slices of Como or other firm crusty European-style white bread into cubes and set on cookie sheet
2. Set cookie sheet with bread cubes in oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, turning occasionally to avoid burning
3. Squeeze 2 small-ish or 1 1/2 medium-ish lemons into a quart mason jar
4. Crack 1 free-yard, bug fed chicken’s egg into the jar
5. Press 2 or 3 cloves garlic into jar (the only excuse for owning a garlic press is Cesar Dressing)
6. Mince three or four Scalia anchovy filets and add to jar (among the best Cesar Salad dressing anchovies I have ever enountered–nutty, buttery, delicately perfume, bringing richness and balance where no (or few) other jarred, salted, or fresh-marinated anchovies can compare).
7. Arrange remaining anchovies on a plate from which guests may serve themselves
8. Pour olive oil remaining in anchovy jar into the mason jar
9. Crack 2 or 3 teaspoons good black pepper (like Parameswaran’s pepper) into the jar
10. Add 1 teaspoon good red wine vinegar (a TOP SECRET secret that I can’t believe I am sharing here with the likes of Vongerichten). I am crazy about Toro Albala, which may or may not be available in the future
11. The jar is now filled about 3/4 of an inch to 1 inch of liquid, mostly acid parts of the dressing. It is time for the oil. Here comes another TOP SECRET tip that assures a salad that is both light and full flavored:
12. Add 1 part grape seed oil and 1 part very good but not absurdly expensive olive oil (I use Almazara Luis Herrera Aceite de Lagrima Olive Oil, which has great fruit and vegetable and floral notes). The two parts combined should just-less-than-double the amount of liquid in the jar, so you should now have something like 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches of liquid in the jar, total. Keeping the amount of oil lower than the amount of acid brings the balance we are looking for, and cutting the amount of olive oil in half creates a beautiful lightness to the body/mouthfeel of the dressing
13. Tighten top onto the jar and shake like mad for 15 seconds to blend and emulsify
14. Turn bread crumbs on cookie sheet to brown more evenly
15. Wash and dry 1 head of very good romaine lettuce, preferably from your garden or a local Farmer’s Market
16. Break lettuce into a large salad bowl in pieces small enough to to toss but big enough to be a hassle (cutting down on the pretension level of the salad while still leaving you with a substantial piece of green to cut and fork and crunch and occasionally make a mess with while you eat)
17. Grate 1/2 cup good Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and set aside. Parmigiano Reggiano is ideal because it is less salty, more nutty, and more delicate than cheap Parmesan cheese or most commonly available Pecorino cheeses
18. Remove bread cubes from oven and let cool, observing that they are now a toasty golden color, and formidably hard and brittle
19. Shake dressing again for a few seconds, and then spoon from the bottom (to help get some of the bits of garlic and anchovy) onto the salad and toss until all leaves are nicely coated
20. Add bread cubes to fill around 3/4 of the mason jar containing the remaining dressing, and turn jar back and forth a few times to soak the cubes in the dressing
21. Sprinkle half the grated parmisan cheese on the leaves and toss to distribute evenly
22. Turn mason jar to re-coat bread cubes.
23. When the cubes have soaked up all the dressing, pour them over the greens and toss
24. Serve the salad onto large plates, and sprinkle lightly with some of the remaining Parmesan
25. Advise guests not to shy away serving themselves additional anchovies

The amount of garlic and pepper can be adjusted to taste, but I advise even the most ardent anchovy avoiders to use the full amount of anchovies, especially if they are good ones, as they are responsible for they are largely responsible for the majesty of the Caesar Salad.

Serve with dry white wine or classic provencal rosé wine.

markbitterman :: Aug.31.2008 :: Eat :: 3 Comments »

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