There are a few variations of this dressing, and many stories as to its origin. The story that is generally accepted in the restaurant world is that Caesar Cardini invented the recipe “on the fly” once when the restaurant was packed and he was out of some ingredients. A quick scan of the pantry gave these ingredients along with the salad base, and then he prepared the salad at tableside for flair. Cardini family legend has it that Caesar did not put in anchovy as he didn’t like them. Supposedly these were added later by a relative. The salad traditionally is made with smaller whole leaves from closer to the center of the head, and the leaves were picked up or cut with knife and fork. I make the dressing without egg yolk because I am lazy. You can also substitute mayonnaise for the egg yolk. Yolk or mayo really do give you a much richer dressing that coats the leaves beautifully, but the flavor is still quite good without them. You will need to use more olive oil to get the right emulsification of the dressing instead.
INGREDIENTS:
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon Dijon style mustard
3-4 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
1 dash Tabasco sauce
salt and pepper to taste
½ large lemon, juiced (around 2-3 tablespoons)
8-12 ounces olive oil (You may need more or less, probably less.)
METHOD:
Rub a large bowl firmly with a clove of garlic so you can see oils left behind and the garlic starts to disintegrate. Do this with the second clove as well. It is okay if there a small bits of garlic left behind.
Add the mustard to the bowl, then the Worcestershire and Tabasco sauces. Stir to mix.
Add the lemon juice, and whisk vigorously.
Add salt and pepper and whisk.
Whisk in the oil slowly in a thin stream, whisking all the while. Add enough oil so the dressing is quite thick. Taste for balance. If it is too sharp, add a little more oil.
Dressing is ready to use.
Chef’s Tips and Variations:
If you wish to use egg yolk, use a single yolk for the above ingredients. If you are concerned about salmonella or eating raw egg yolks, I recommend boiling the egg for 2 minutes and then running it under cold water until you can handle the egg. Break the egg into your hand and separate the white from the yolk. Discard the white and add the yolk to the dressing bowl. Do this before adding the lemon juice, and whisk well to incorporate the flavors. Proceed as directed above, but keep in mind you will need less oil to thicken the dressing-perhaps as little as 6 ounces. Taste to determine.
If you want a thick version like you get with egg yolk but don’t want to fuss as much, you can substitute 1-2 tablespoons mayonnaise for the yolk, following the instructions for the egg yolk version above.
If you want to do the anchovy version, I recommend you use anchovy paste for ease and uniformity of smashed-ness. 1 teaspoon of paste or 4 fillets of anchovy should do it for this recipe. Add the paste with the mustard, or if using fillets, add them before the mustard and use a fork to smash the fillets to a paste in the bowl. Proceed as above.
If you use egg yolk, use the dressing within the hour. The mayo version will keep a couple days the refrigerator.
Serves: 4
Source: Chef Andrew E Cohen
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