The origin of Caesar salad: celebrating one hundred years

(WTAJ) — Pull out the birthday cake! That’s right, a popular salad is celebrating it’s birthday alongside the United States this Fourth of July.

Born 100 years ago , the Caesar salad was created on July 4, 1924, in Tijuana Mexico. An Italian-born restaurateur named Cesare Cardini moved his restaurant from San Diego, California, to Tijuana in 1924.

This was during prohibition in the United States, which lasted until 1933, and Cardini wanted to be able to serve and consume alcohol in his restaurant without fear of legal retribution. Cardini’s restaurant was often extremely busy, and he would frequently give his chefs ingredients such as romaine lettuce, parmesan cheese, lemons, olive oil and bread cubes that would be assembled table side. Sound familiar?

In 1935 , once prohibition ended, Cardini packed up and moved to Los Angeles to work as a liquor merchant while marketing a dressing he had made for salad. The ingredients were vegetable oil, lemon juice, egg, olive oil, wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, parmesan cheese, salt and garlic.

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The dressing was popular amongst salad enthusiasts across the country, and by the 1940s the Caesar salad was a staple at restaurants across the world.

In 1986 , the original recipe for the Caesar salad was published by Cardini’s daughter, Rosa. While the Caesar dressing that is popular now usually contains anchovies, according to Rosa her father used Worcestershire sauce instead.

While the era of Cesare Cardini’s original restaurant ended in 2009, the Cardini name continues to live on in Caesar salads.

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