This classic egg and
oil based Caesar dressing was at one time the most popular salad
dressing consumed by Americans. However over time this dressing has
been replaced as America's favorite by many others such as Ranch
(47%), Italian (18.7%) and Thousand Island (14.4%). According to
'Statista' Caesar was still the 5th most popular salad
dressing (13.02%) purchased by American consumers in 2015.
The name of this
dressing comes from it's creator Caesar Cardini who is believed to
have created this dressing at his restaurant in the 1920's. While
modern variations of this dressing include anchovies, Cardini's
original dressing did not include anchovies, rather it got it's
unique flavor from Worcestershire sauce. Caesar's brother Alex
Cardini who worked at Caesar's restaurant also used to prepare a
similar salad that he called 'Aviator's Salad' that was made with
anchovies. What most of us have come to know as Caesar dressing is
and amalgam of both recipes made with anchovies simply called
'Caesar' dressing.
In this article I
will show you how to make three distinct variations of this classic
salad dressing. The recipe for 'Classic Caesar Dressing' was the
recipe I learned to make many years ago in culinary school and is the
one many restaurants still make. The Creamy Caesar is the same basic
recipe as the classic, except it uses one egg yolk instead of whole
eggs and mayonnaise and Dijon mustard are added to give it additional
body. The avocado Caesar substitutes mashed avocado for the
mayonnaise and mustard.
- Raw Egg Warning -
Because
there is always the
possibility that raw
or undercooked eggs
may contain
the bacteria salmonella which
is the leading cause of food poisioning in America,
the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) does not recommend eating
eggs
that are raw
or undercooked, especially if
you are pregnant. However,
the USDA states that eggs
that have been pasteurized are safe to eat.
“In-shell pasteurized eggs
may be used safely without cooking” (USDA
2016).
Classic Caesar Salad
Dressing (1 ½ cups, 24 tablespoons)
This was the recipe
I learned to make many years ago I culinary school and is the one
many restaurants still make. My one personal modification is the fact
that I use an Asian fish sauce in place of the anchovies. If you do
not like anchovies or fish sauce, then substitute Worcestershire
sauce for the fish sauce as Caesar did. While most Caesar dressings
use lemon juice, both Caesar and Alex used lime juice in their
original dressings. I suspect that lemon juice was not only more
readily available but cheaper and that is likely while it became the
juice of choice in most modern recipes.
1 cup canola oil
¼
Parmigiana-Reggiano cheese, grated
8 anchovies or 2
teaspoons fish sauce
2 whole eggs (large)
2 tablespoons lime
or lemon juice
1 teaspoon minced
garlic
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black
pepper
Whip the whole eggs
with a wire whip until the whites and yolks are totally combined,
then add the garlic, fish sauce (or minced anchovies), lime juice,
salt, and pepper and mix until throughly. Slowly pour in the canola
oil while mixing with your wire whip until it is throughly combined
and an emulsion is formed. You can start out with a small trickle of
oil if you wish, but I generally just pour a ¼ of the oil in at a
time and make sure it is throughly combined before I mix in the next
¼ cup and it work just fine.
Once all the oil has
been combined, add the Parmigiana-Reggiano and stir a few times to
make sure it is throughly combined. Place in a jar and then
refrigerate until ready to use.
Total Recipe –
Calories 2265, protein 22 grams, fat 242 grams, carbohydrates 5.77
grams
Per Tablespoon –
Calories 94, protein 0.92 grams, fat 10 grams, carbohydrates 0.24
grams
Kraft Classic Caesar
Dressing
Per Tablespoon –
Calories 120, protein 1 gram, 12 grams, carbohydrates 2 grams
Chef's Note: In all
my Caesar dressings I use fish sauce that you can find at any Asian
grocery and generally even at Walmart in place of the anchovies.
Mainly because I hate to open and waste a can of anchovies as most of
these recipes only call for 4 fillets, and I use it in many other
Thai dishes. Fish sauce is made from anchovies, salt, sugar and water
and it is shelf stable so no wastage. If you are going to use whole
anchovies, it is better to make the dressing in a blender or food
processor so that the anchovies can be throughly combined.
Creamy Caesar Salad
Dressing (1 ½ cups, 24 tablespoons)
½ cup canola oil
½ cup mayonnaise or
LCHF mayonnaise
¼
Parmigiana-Reggiano cheese, grated
4 anchovies or 1
teaspoon fish sauce
1 egg yolk (large)
2 tablespoons lime
or lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive
oil
1 tablespoon Dijon
mustard
1 teaspoon minced
garlic
1 teaspoon
Worcestershire sauce (optional)
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black
pepper
Whip the egg yolk
with a wire whip until it is smooth and light yellow, then add the
mayonnaise, mustard, garlic, fish sauce, lime juice, salt, and pepper
and continue to mix until throughly combined.
Then slowly pour in
the canola oil while mixing with your wire whip until it is throughly
combined and an emulsion is formed. You can start out with a small
trickle of oil if you wish, but I generally just pour a ¼ of the oil
in at a time and make sure it is throughly combined before I mix in
the next ¼ cup and it work just fine. Once all the oil has been
combined, add the Parmigiana-Reggiano and stir a few times to make
sure it is throughly combined. Place in a jar and then refrigerate
until ready to use.
Total Recipe –
Calories 2282, protein 23.07 grams, fat 244 grams, carbohydrates 8.49
grams
Per Tablespoon –
Calories 95, protein 0.96 grams, fat 10.16 grams, carbohydrates 0.35
grams
Wishbone Creamy
Caesar Dressing
Per Tablespoon –
Calories 90, protein 0.8 grams, fat 9 grams, carbohydrates 0.5 grams
Kraft Creamy Caesar
Dressing (Lite)
Per Tablespoon –
Calories 60, protein 0.4 grams, fat 6 grams, carbohydrates 1 gram
Avocado Caesar Salad
Dressing (1 ½ cups, 24 tablespoons)
½ cup canola oil
½ cup avocado,
mashed smooth (about 1 medium avocado)
¼
Parmigiana-Reggiano cheese, grated
4 anchovies or 1
teaspoon fish sauce
1 egg yolk (large)
2 tablespoons lime
or lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive
oil
1 tablespoon Dijon
mustard
1 teaspoon minced
garlic
1 teaspoon
Worcestershire sauce (optional)
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black
pepper
Whip the egg yolk
with a wire whip until it is smooth and light yellow, then add the
mashed avocado, mustard, garlic, fish sauce, lime juice, salt, and
pepper and continue to mix until throughly combined.
Then slowly pour in
the canola oil while mixing with your wire whip until it is throughly
combined and an emulsion is formed. You can start out with a small
trickle of oil if you wish, but I generally just pour a ¼ of the oil
in at a time and make sure it is throughly combined before I mix in
the next ¼ cup and it work just fine. Once all the oil has been
combined, add the Parmigiana-Reggiano and stir a few times to make
sure it is throughly combined. Place in a jar and then refrigerate
until ready to use.
Total Recipe –
Calories 1655, protein 24.07 grams, fat 172 grams, carbohydrates 8.84
grams
Per Tablespoon –
Calories 69, protein 1 gram, fat 7.2 grams, carbohydrates 0.37 grams
Chef's Note –
Avocados are graded and numbered depending on their length, a #60 is
considered a medium size avocado and is about 3 inches in length, and
should yield ½ cup of mashed pulp. You can check out the Calavos
website for more information about how to choose the right avocado
for any recipe you wish to prepare.
There are no real
commercially prepared Caesar dressings that are made with avocados,
or at least none that I know of, so there is nothing that I can
compare the nutritional content against. Needless to say, the creamy
avocado dressing does have the lowest fat content of the three
dressing recipes in this article (7.2 grams per tablespoon).
Regardless of whether you choose to use avocados or mayonnaise to
make your creamy Caesar dressing, the carbohydrate content is almost
the same, while the classic Caesar has the lowest amount of
carbohydrates at 0.24 grams per tablespoon.
Your Choice of Oil
According to the
Cardini family, both the original Caesar and Aviator Salad's were
made with vegetable oil or whatever neutral salad oil the two
brothers had on hand in the restaurant. Eventually olive oil replaced
the vegetable (salad oil) as the oil of choice for many chef's. By
the time I learned this classic recipe olive oil was the oil of
choice, although I prefer to use canola oil. While the amount of
total fat contained in both canola and olive oil is the same, olive
oil has more saturated and monounsaturated fats than canola oil. I
have included the following nutritional values for both oils so that
you can examine them just in case you are curious.
1 Cup Canola Oil
(Calories – 1984, Total Fat 224 grams)
Saturated fat 16
grams, Polyunsaturated fat 62.4 grams, Monounsaturated fat 144 grams
1 Cup Olive Oil
(Calories 1904, Total Fat 224 grams)
Saturated fat 30.4
grams, Polyunsaturated fat 22.4 grams, Monounsaturated fat 160 grams
Because I like to
refrigerate my salad dressings I prefer canola over olive oil as
canola oil does not solidify when refrigerated like olive oil does.
The fact that canola oil is cheaper than olive oil is also a deciding
factor. One gallon (128oz) of Great Value canola oil is $5.98 ($0.04
per ounce). A 25.5oz bottle of Great Value 100% Extra Virgin olive
oil is $5.74 ($0.22 per ounce). As you can see olive oil is five
times more expensive than canola oil. Personally, I save my olive oil
for cooking, and use canola oil in almost all my salad dressings.
Conclusion
Caesar salad
dressing has been a popular favorite here in America for years. While
it is most often associated with the dish known 'Caesar Salad' that
contains romaine lettuce and oven baked croûtons, it makes an
excellent dressing for a regular dinner salad. There are always
concerns when raw eggs are added to any recipe, so if you have
concerns regarding salmonella, then both the 'Creamy Caesar Salad
Dressing' and the 'Avocado Caesar Salad Dressing' can be made without
the raw egg yolks with little noticeable difference in taste. As
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