When I was younger, a caesar salad consisted of romaine lettuce leaves with croutons, parmesan and a creamy dressing made with eggs, oil and Worcestershire sauce. There were occasionally anchovies. That was it. Over the years, there have been many modifications. The salad stopped being made tableside and bottled dressings appeared. Protein was added, often in the form of chicken. I accepted all of this. Today my staff noted that there was an extra “caesar salad” in the refrigerator left over from takeout and I could have it for lunch. I pulled out the Styrofoam clamshell with “Caesar” written on it by the restaurant and I found the following salad:
-shredded iceburg lettuce
-sliced red onions
-sundried tomatoes
-shredded chicken
-pumpernickel (?) croutons
-a container of dressing that I would describe as “creamy parmesan” that was too thick to pour
Now at best, I would call this a potentially tasty chicken and sundried tomato salad with “caesar-type” dressing. But how can they call it a caesar salad???
I used to go to a restaurant (since closed) that constructed your Caesar Salad table-side, rubbing your wooden salad bowl with a cut garlic clove and making your raw egg dressing. It was fantastic.
I never accepted it. I do not like salads in general but I loved my mom’s Caesar salads (with anchovies). So I was immensely disappointed when I first ordered one at a restaurant and got nasty bottled dressing on iceberg. Since then I have found perhaps one or two places that would do a proper Caesar, so for the most part if I want one I make it myself.
“Chicken caesar” or whatever is an oxymoron as far as I’m concerned.
Most mid-tier restaurants shy away from raw eggs being served, not to mention the cost of training people how to correctly make a Caesar Salad. If you want a good one, you have to go to a more up-scale establishment. I have no problem getting on at any number of places in Las Vegas, for example.
It is much, much worse than that: any type of lettuce with any type of additional ingredients, that is covered in a “Caesar-like” dressing is called a Caesar.
I agree. I would be less upset if it at least had romaine lettuce and maybe some parmesan. But simply topping any random ingredients with “caesar dressing” does not make it a caesar salad. Iceburg lettuce does not below in a Caesar salad.
Where do you guys live and what kind of restaurants do you go to? I don’t expect tableside construction, but whenever I order a Caesar Salad, a Caesar Salad is what I get. If you want chicken or shrimp on top, you have to ask for (and pay for) it.
This. The onions and tomatoes being the biggest giveaway. Maybe the caesar salads I’ve eaten haven’t been “authentic” but they’ve certainly never had those on them, anywhere. Chicken either, but I would assume that’s something added on, not on a default salad.
Likewise. I may have once or twice had a “fancy” version of a Caesar that was on something other than romaine, but even that is very rare and never just iceberg.
No True Scotsman, etc. Point is that you probably never got a Caesar salad with iceberg because you likely only ordered them from places where you had some expectation that it would be a real one. Of course McDonald’s would never serve a real Caesar salad… but that’s basically the whole point of the thread.
My daughter thinks she likes Caesar salads. I told her about the wooden bowl, the garlic, the dressing, and she looked at me like I was nuts. So I gave up. She orders a Caesar salad now, gets a house salad of some kind with cheese on it and creamy dressing, and is happy.
The only time I’ve seen a “salad” made with iceberg lettuce in the last 20 years is at high end steakhouses where it is served as a big wedge with blue cheese dressing and bacon crumbles, maybe a grape tomato as garnish. It is an homage to Mad Men culture and is 90% tongue-in-cheek.
LOL: “Prepared fresh daily with up to 16 varieties of lettuce…”
They say that like it’s a selling point.
Translation: “We’re just gonna take the floor sweepings from a local lettuce processing plant and feed it to you. It could have 10, it could have 15 varieties, who knows? Bon appetit!”
