Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Fourth of July: Caesar Would Have Turned In His Grave?

Who knew?

Fourth of July is also the anniversary of the Caesar Salad.

It was the Fourth of July, 1924.

Caesar Cardini had a rush on his restaurant in Tijuana. People had come down from LA and San Diego to escape Prohibition and be able to celebrate with a few brewskis.

Caesar ran out of just about everything. His daughter Rosa (she died only nine years ago), said that her dad invented the dish on this day when the rush of customers reduced his kitchen supplies to almost zero. He just grabbed whole romaine lettuce leaves, olive oil, lemon juice, croutons, a coddled egg, Worcestershire sauce, and black pepper.

And he kinda made a virtue of necessity by making a big play of tossing and serving the salad tableside.

But how would he react if he saw how his salad had evolved – 88 years later - to this?

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jul/04/27289/

This is a Caesar’s Salad?

“This is my Caesar Salad,” says José Figueroa.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jul/04/27291/

I meet him at a visitors’ day at the Culinary Art School in Tijuana where he has been studying.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jul/04/27292/

"This is my tribute to Caesar Cardini, the great gastronomic inventor. He took liberties with whatever materials he had and created a masterpiece back then. Now I am doing a little bit the same today.”

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jul/04/27290/

Would Caesar go along? Or would he rise up in his grave and utter "Et tu, José?"

BTW: We can still have the real thing at Caesar's Hotel restaurant (1079 Avenida Revolución, downtown Tijuana, near 5th Steet, tel 011.52.664.685-1606, or 011.52.664.688-0449), where the price is still pretty good, and they do toss and prepare your salad table-side, exactly as Caesar himself did for the first time, 88 years ago today.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Navy solves San Diego homeless crisis by retiring four locally moored ships

Decommision Accomplished
Next Article

San Diego Reader 2024 Music & Arts Issue

Favorite fakers: Baby Bushka, Fleetwood Max, Electric Waste Band, Oceans, Geezer – plus upcoming tribute schedule

Who knew?

Fourth of July is also the anniversary of the Caesar Salad.

It was the Fourth of July, 1924.

Caesar Cardini had a rush on his restaurant in Tijuana. People had come down from LA and San Diego to escape Prohibition and be able to celebrate with a few brewskis.

Caesar ran out of just about everything. His daughter Rosa (she died only nine years ago), said that her dad invented the dish on this day when the rush of customers reduced his kitchen supplies to almost zero. He just grabbed whole romaine lettuce leaves, olive oil, lemon juice, croutons, a coddled egg, Worcestershire sauce, and black pepper.

And he kinda made a virtue of necessity by making a big play of tossing and serving the salad tableside.

But how would he react if he saw how his salad had evolved – 88 years later - to this?

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jul/04/27289/

This is a Caesar’s Salad?

“This is my Caesar Salad,” says José Figueroa.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jul/04/27291/

I meet him at a visitors’ day at the Culinary Art School in Tijuana where he has been studying.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jul/04/27292/

"This is my tribute to Caesar Cardini, the great gastronomic inventor. He took liberties with whatever materials he had and created a masterpiece back then. Now I am doing a little bit the same today.”

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jul/04/27290/

Would Caesar go along? Or would he rise up in his grave and utter "Et tu, José?"

BTW: We can still have the real thing at Caesar's Hotel restaurant (1079 Avenida Revolución, downtown Tijuana, near 5th Steet, tel 011.52.664.685-1606, or 011.52.664.688-0449), where the price is still pretty good, and they do toss and prepare your salad table-side, exactly as Caesar himself did for the first time, 88 years ago today.

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.