Tijuana's Avenida Revolución was a place of pilgrimage yesterday, at least for salad lovers.
The street was closed betwen 4th and 5th for the annual Festival de la Ensalada Caesar's. That same block includes the place where you can go any day to get this creamy, dreamy salad--Caesar's, where it originated.
The Caesar salad isn't just a tourist attraction. The other day the cart with the fixings (above) rolled up to almost every table. The elegant Tijuana ladies who lunch ordered it. So did a table of well-heeled businessmen.
And so did my table, where we went totally touristy and photographed every step in preparing the dressing.
The ingredients, which you can compare to whatever Caesar recipe you use, are fresh-squeezed lime juice, mustard, garlic, anchovies, egg yolk, Lea & Perrins, pepper, grated Parmesan cheese and olive oil.
The trick seems to be in adding the olive oil in a long, slow trickle, whipping steadily until it forms a thick emulsion (above).
Then crisp romaine leaves are tossed with the dressing, plated, given an additional sprinkling of Parmesan and topped with a toasted crouton.
The flavors blend so smoothly, you are hardly aware of any one ingredient.
Renovated by the Plascencia Group, Caesar's exhibits the charm that has made it a draw since in opened in 1927. Even without the salad, it would be a destination place where you can drink in Tijuana's historic atmosphere along with whatever you eat.
Caesar's Restaurant and Bar, Revolución 1927, Zona Centro, Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Phone: 52 664 685 1927.
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