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The Search for Caesar Salad!

TarteTatin

By TarteTatin
in Pennsylvania: Dining

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TarteTatin

TarteTatin

Posted
Posted

I was just posting in New Jersey (under Pizzicato, since I went there today), and I'm wondering if anyone knows where to get a

REALLY GOOD

Caesar Salad.

You know, if not tableside, then darn close?

Philly Francophiles

Marlene

Marlene

Posted
Posted

Yes, but you have to come up here to Ontario to get it. :biggrin:

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

MarketStEl

MarketStEl

Posted
Posted
Yes, but you have to come up here to Ontario to get it. :biggrin:

Good Caesar salad, or good Caesar cocktail?

:wink:

Sandy Smith, Exile on Oxford Circle, Philadelphia

"95% of success in life is showing up." --Woody Allen

My foodblogs: 1 | 2 | 3

Rich Pawlak

Rich Pawlak

Posted
Posted
I was just posting in New Jersey (under Pizzicato, since I went there today), and I'm wondering if anyone knows where to get a

REALLY GOOD

Caesar Salad.

You know, if not tableside, then darn close?

You have about a month to get it at The Marker at the Adams Mark hotel, before it all closes down, but I'd call before I went out there. Just in case they've changed things for the last month.

Rich Pawlak

 

Reporter, The Trentonian

Feature Writer, INSIDE Magazine
Food Writer At Large

MY BLOG: THE OMNIVORE

"In Cerveza et Pizza Veritas"

Mummer

Mummer

Posted
Posted

I had a tableside prepped Caesar recently at the Duling-Kurtz House in Exton.

The salad and the rest of our meal were excellent.

Charlie, the Main Line Mummer

We must eat; we should eat well.

Marlene

Marlene

Posted
Posted
Yes, but you have to come up here to Ontario to get it. :biggrin:

Good Caesar salad, or good Caesar cocktail?

:wink:

Well both actually. Like butter tarts, Bloody Caesars seem to be distinctly Canadian. :biggrin:

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

xtian

xtian

Posted
Posted

The Dillworthtown inn makes a great table-side Caesar Salad.

There's nothing better than an excellent Caesar, and nothing worse than a lousy one!

"Love and cook with reckless abandon" - Dalai Lama

herbacidal

herbacidal

Posted
Posted

Can't say I've ever had the pleasure of a tableside Caesar.

But my first memory of a true Caesar is from the late Palladium.

Me wonders if its successor, Abraccio, at 47th and Baltimore, makes a version that I'd appreciate.

Herb aka "herbacidal"

Tom is not my friend.

NulloModo

NulloModo

Posted
Posted

Maybe I am lucky, or just easy, but it is very rare I find a _bad_ caesar salad. Really, IMO the only things that can hurt it are the lettuce being wet (with water), or the dressing having been applied so far in advance that it is soggy.

What are the characteristics of a perfect Caesar, so I can start looking?

He don't mix meat and dairy,

He don't eat humble pie,

So sing a miserere

And hang the bastard high!

- Richard Wilbur and John LaTouche from Candide

mrbigjas

mrbigjas

Posted
Posted (edited)

to me it involves romaine hearts as a green, obviously. the dressing should be assertively flavored of olive oil, dijon mustard, worcestershire, and there should be an anchovy component, though not an overwhelming one. the croutons should be crisp-chewy. the grated parmgiana cheese combined with the dressing should give the salad a hearty character--it shouldn't be light. in fact, for me a good caesar salad is a light meal.

but that's me. i have the julia child recipe which she insists came from the inventor's daughter, but have never made it--martha stewart's recipe tastes good to me.

edited to say that usually caesar salad dressing i get when out is too creamy. i mean, as if people had added mayonnaise or sour cream or something to it. know what i mean?

Edited by mrbigjas (log)
fiftydollars

fiftydollars

Posted
Posted

Judy Rodgers makes a flawless caesar salad at the Zuni Cafe in San Francisco.

She uses impossibly fresh produce, house-cured anchovies, and serves the salad moments after it is made (if you peek in the kitchen you can see a cook constantly making batches of the dressing).

The croutons are tossed in the dressing, which results in a nice crisp/chewiness and makes me wonder why not everyone does this.

Unfortunately, the salad is not made tableside, but the quality more than makes up for it.

James Colabelli

James Colabelli

Posted
Posted (edited)

The real difference between an "ordinary" Caesar and a great one are the croutons. They must be made fresh to order, so they are crunchy, but maintain some softness inside. Also, they are hot, which adds a layer of complexity when tosed with cold Romain leaves, and they also absorb some of the dressing.

-James Colabelli

Meritage Philadelphia

Holly - yes we use coddled egg. Can't make a true Caesar without it! Good point.

:biggrin:

Edited by James Colabelli (log)
foodE

foodE

Posted
Posted

Me wonders if its successor, Abraccio, at 47th and Baltimore, makes a version that I'd appreciate.

My office Christmas dinner was at Abraccio. Caesar Salad was served, but it was buffet-style, so obviously not table side. My guess is that they do not do it under normal circumstances, either. The salad and the other offerings were pretty good, but not outstanding.

chapeaulong

chapeaulong

Posted
Posted

Its even more exciting to not coddle the egg. Live a little people!! My suggestion for a good Caesar is to make it yourself, and omit the worcestershire sauce. But you will need a wooden bowl to make it taste just right. Hail Caesar!!

mrbigjas

mrbigjas

Posted
Posted
The real difference between an "ordinary" Caesar and a great one are the croutons.  They must be made fresh to order, so they are crunchy, but maintain some softness inside.  Also, they are hot, which adds a layer of  complexity when tosed with cold Romain leaves, and they also absorb some of the dressing. 

-James Colabelli

Meritage Philadelphia

Holly - yes we use coddled egg.  Can't make a true Caesar without it!  Good point.

:biggrin:

hey james, congrats on your mention in the 1/05 issue of bon appetit. (meritage got the 'where the knowing are going' mention. farmicia got the 'where to go next' honors. washington square got the 'don't believe the hype', uh, 'award.')

rockhopper

rockhopper

Posted
Posted
  the dressing should be assertively flavored of olive oil, dijon mustard,

Bleah. It's stops being a Caesar salad right there and morphs into a

Caesar style salad. The mustard is an abomination used in place of the egg. Leave it baby's diapers where it comes from...

Dum vivimus, vivamus!

mrbigjas

mrbigjas

Posted
Posted

interesting you should post and remind me tonight--last night i made caesar exactly as described in julia child's 'from julia's kitchen.'

recipe here:

http://members.cox.net/jjschnebel/caesrsal.html

it's a great salad, definitely plenty for lunch, and definitely different from the derivative version that martha stewart presents here:

http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?ty...true&resultNo=1

the real thing is much more mildly flavored than hers or many of the other derivatives that up the anchovy, the garlic, etc.

after i made it, i realized that really i don't know that i've ever had the real thing before. good stuff.

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