Caesar Salad with the old camera

Shot with the old camera.
I’m a bit of a purest when it comes to certain recipes. I do sometimes, however, break the rules and surprise myself. So it was with surpise that I found myself ordering a Caesar Salad with chicken at Langtons (annoying music) 61 Flinders Lane, Melbourne (03 9663 0222). I like the fact it’s hidden in a basement down a laneway. It’s something that reminds me of the clubs such as the Somali and the Silver Sands I trawled as a student, post Toxteth riots in Liverpool (usually shortly before I had my head kicked-in yet again).
Here the clientel is very different to Liverpool. Swap rake thin Somali emigres pushing hash or plump Wasps pushing, I suspect, some kind of consultancy.
But that shouldn’t put you off.
This was one of the best Caesar Salads I’ve had in a lifetime of avoiding Caesars with bacon bits and chicken. Better than at Francis Ford Coppola’s American Zoetrope in San Francisco (no chicken of bacon), which claims to be the location where the salad was invented.
But somehow I always return to the pure form and eat this at least once a month at home. After a hard days work it is quick and easy to make. And being very garlicky makes me feel as if I’m eating something healthy which I probably am.
The important thing is to select the young light green leaves from a Cos (Romaine) lettuce. Leave the flabby dark ones for the worm farm.
First make the dressing. I mash a garlic clove to a pulp with salt and mix in two egg yolks with a fork. Whisk in Worcester Sauce (always Lea & Perrins) and lemon juice and while drizzling in some olive oil.
Grate in a good measure of parmesan. taste and adjust the mix.
Raid your store of stale bread and fry some cubes in olive oil to make croutons.
I mix the dressing with the salad, add the croutons amd a couple of anchovies. Shave some parmesan on top for effect.
I would probably have something cheap and white with this, perhaps a Lindemans bargain Bin 65 chardonnay at under $9 a bottle. Anything else is wasted. Matching a posh wine with this Caesar salad is hopeless because the garlic burns away the palate.