Cook Adam Liaw's Original Caesar Salad

While many modern versions of caesar salad include ingredients such as anchovies and bacon, the original salad invented in 1924 simply consisted of a seasoned dressing of coddled eggs, oil and citrus juice coating long leaves of cos (romaine) lettuce.

This is an edited extract from Time For Dinner by Adam Liaw published by Hardie Grant Books.

Adam’s Original Caesar Salad IMAGE: Steve Brown

SERVES 2

Active time

10 minutes

Cooking time

5 minutes

Ingredients

1 garlic clove, halved

¾ cup (180 ml/6 fl oz) olive oil

½ baguette, sliced into 1.5 cm (½ in) slices

salt and black pepper, to season

2 eggs

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce juice of 1 lime

1 head cos (romaine) lettuce (or

2 heads baby cos), washed and dried

1 cup (100 g/3½ oz) freshly grated parmesan cheese

Rub the inside of a wide bowl with the cut garlic and add a tablespoon of the oil. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat and add the cut garlic and about half the remaining oil. Fry the baguette slices for about 2 minutes on each side until well browned. Season with salt and pepper.

Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil. Prick a small hole in the base of each egg and boil the eggs for 2 minutes. Crack the eggs into the bowl, scooping the white from the shell, and mix in the mustard, Worcestershire sauce, lime juice and the remaining olive oil. Whisk with a fork to combine.

Cut any large leaves of the lettuce lengthways. Add the lettuce to the bowl, stirring to coat completely in the dressing. Transfer to a serving plate and add the parmesan and fried baguette slices. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Tip

If you want to add anchovies and bacon to your salad, be my guest. I am by no means a traditionalist, but taking a dish back to its origins is often the easiest way to simplify it.