Claudette Zepeda’s Secret to the Finest Caesar Salad

There are few salads as iconic because the Caesar — that interaction of crisp romaine, crunchy croutons, shaved Parmesan, and a creamy, pungent dressing of egg yolk, olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, and anchovies.

For chef Claudette Zepeda, the dish is private, and displays her personal culinary origin story. Zepeda grew up in Tijuana, Mexico, the place Caesar salad was invented in 1924. Though it has been credited to totally different cooks, the unique recipe is definitively tied to Caesar’s restaurant in Tijuana, the place it’s nonetheless famously ready tableside in a big wood bowl. No matter who created it, the salad highlights the ingenuity of Italian immigrant cooks who reworked humble components right into a outstanding dish. Early in her profession, Zepeda even labored for Javier Plascencia, a member of the household that owns Caesar’s. 

On the latest Meals & Wine Basic in Aspen, Zepeda celebrated the cross-cultural origins of the well-known salad throughout a seminar on “Mex-Italian delicacies.” Alongside a limoncello Margarita and chorizo carbonara, Zepeda made a Baja-style Caesar salad, utilizing lime juice and Cotija cheese as a substitute of conventional lemon and Parmesan. “I at all times say foundational recipes are good to grasp,” Zepeda instructed the gang in Aspen. If cooks have a agency grasp of a selected method, they will make knowledgeable swaps and put their very own private stamp on it.

Nevertheless, Zepeda shared one non-negotiable for a stellar Caesar.

Claudette Zepeda’s must-have ingredient for Caesar dressing

“After I labored for Javier, we needed to undergo Caesar salad bootcamp,” mentioned Zepeda. “I [would] purchase the fanciest Dijon [mustard]. Javier would come and style it and a single tear would come down his eye,” she mentioned. “And he was like, ‘It’s simply not proper.’ So he despatched us to do the Caesar salad with a staff of all of the captains that do it tableside [in Tijuana], and the key was Gray Poupon.”

That’s proper — the key to a chef-approved Caesar salad dressing would possibly already be in your fridge. First created in 1866 in Dijon, France, the basic white wine–infused mustard is understood for its daring, barely spicy taste. Heublein Firm bought the American rights in 1946, and Kraft Meals later acquired it.

Strive Gray Poupon in a basic Caesar dressing, Zepeda’s punched-up model, and even in a shortcut recipe that begins with mayonnaise. It would additionally carry its tangy piquancy to every little thing from grilled rooster to vinaigrettes to deviled eggs.