The Emperor of them all

When I was a child, I happily indulged in unique foods learning about styles and flavors. I tasted interesting appetizers with enthralling sauces, fabulous entrees of intriguing vegetable and meat interpretations, and of course desserts of pure imagination and captivation. There were, however, two constants in my personal menu and food repertoire: the initiation of a restaurant as judged by its creation of the ever-empirical Caesar Salad and the closure of a meal with something ala mode.

I must have tried 50 different Caesar Salad recipes by the time I turned 13-
I ordered it wherever we went, regardless of the occasion, regardless of the night. I tried Caesar with creamy sauces (a hit), Caesar with Romaine (another hit), and Caesar with extra anchovies (not a hit). I was treated to extra lemon, freshly ground pepper, freshly shaved Parmesan, roasted garlic, deep fried croutons, and even just- from-the-garden tomatoes. Some Caesars were presented with chicken, others with salmon, some with steak. A few came hot, most cold. The presentations differed just as greatly, from large silver mixing bowls at the table to stylish sweeps of platters in colors of sea foam green or sunny yellows and oranges. The portion sizes varied from the artistically and architecturally designed lean-to-pyramid of three hearts of Romaine, to the chopped and tossed style of the iceberg.

Below are two different recipes created for the emperor of all salads: Caesar.

The basic ingredients to make a Caesar include: mayonnaise, lemon juice, Worcestershire, Parmesan, and pepper. All other ingredients added give extra flavors to each recipe. The first recipe is a simplistic but delicious version of a classic salad. The second is a bit more complicated in terms of ingredients, however it also uses innovative measures to mix the classic salad up a bit.

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1 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp Worcestershire
1 clove of garlic (minced)
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 c Parmesean cheese
1 tbsp of milk or half and half


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1 tsp. mustard, prepared
3/4 c. veg. or lite olive oil
3/4 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 clove garlic, crushed
3 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. mayonnaise
1 egg yolk
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
Mix oil, Worcestershire, garlic, lemon juice, mustard, mayonnaise, egg yolk, cream cheese, pepper and half of the Parmesan cheese in blender until smooth. Rip lettuce into bite-size pieces. Mix in the dressing. Add croutons and sprinkle the top with remaining Parmesan cheese.

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These recipes are a combination of tradition and innovation. The first seems to be an example of a classic Caesar. However, there is no egg. The traditional recipe calls for a raw egg yolk, which has found unpopularity today as a result of salmonella scares. Thus, the first recipe calls for a substitute of extra mayonnaise and milk. This innovation is brilliant and delicious. The second recipe combines the traditional recipe of Worcestershire, mayonnaise, egg and cheese with the added flavors of mustard, olive oil, and cream cheese. This will make for a very creamy dressing. The egg can be substituted or taken out entirely as the flavor combinations will suffice. Both recipes are restaurant quality and will make fabulous, royal-worthy commencements of a meal.