I think everybody by now knows the origin of the first Caesar salad. It’s just one of the coolest, old school things ever whipped up out of a pantry in Mexico to satisfy some jaded, drunken celebrities in the wee, wee hours. And I don’t mean that in the scatological sense. <br />We now live in an era of wimped out caesars; anchovy denial, Egg Beaters, yolkless, and jokeless salads without any soul. I hate that. The purist in me wants to go back to the original. The Decontructionist in me wishes to take it apart and put it back together, leaving everything almost intact but not quite. I’m not afraid of eggs. In the following instructions from the 1960’s you are advised to “coddle” the eggs, for me that translates into a bain marie. This seems like a lot of work for a damn salad doesn’t it? A recent New Yorker cartoon describes salad as “a dressing delivery vehicle” so I guess it’s worth it. Floating radical that we are, we use one single crouton (it’s a French thing) per salad plate instead of cubed ones. <br />Of course anything with raw lettuce and almost raw eggs comes with risks. Get in touch with your inner Bourdain (hey, he’s a really nice guy by the way). If you are not going to do it right, well, don’t bother. - pierino <br />

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