We need food and drink to survive, to nourish us and to keep us in tip-top shape. But did you ever wonder about the history behind certain foods?
This week we’re bringing you the history behind Caesar Salad.
Caesar salads have no connection to Roman general Julius Caesar. The famous salad is generally attributed to Italian restaurateur Caesar Cardini who was an Italian immigrant. Cardini ran businesses in the US and Mexico.
His daughter Rosa, who passed away in 2003, remembers the creation of the dish when July 4th celebrations at Tijuana, Mexico, depleted the kitchen stock. The year was 1924 and Cardini improvised with ingredients and made do with what was left in-house.
To add a little bit of flair to the salad, Caesar reportedly prepared it in front of the guests, giving it the classic toss in the air. The salad grew in popularity though there are former Cardini staff who claim that it was they who created the dish.
The late chef Julia Child recounts eating a Caesar salad at Cardini’s restaurant as a child and watched it being made.
“It was a sensation from coast to coast, and there were even rumblings of its success in Europe” she remarked.
It’s said that the earliest documentation of the salad is from an LA restaurant menu in 1946.
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