The Caesar salad was born in Tijuana, Mexico, not in ancient Rome, and it has nothing to do with Julius Caesar. It's named after Caesar Cardini, an Italian-born restaurateur who ran a restaurant in Tijuana, just over the border from California, in the 1920s. The most widely told version says he improvised it on a busy day in 1924, tossing whole romaine leaves at the table with egg, olive oil, lemon, Worcestershire sauce, Parmesan and garlicky croutons. Other people in his circle later claimed the credit. Almost every account, though, agrees on the place.
Why Tijuana?
To understand the salad, start with a law. From 1920 to 1933, Prohibition banned the sale of alcohol in the United States. Tijuana, a short drive from San Diego, was not covered by it, and it boomed. Americans crossed the border for cocktails, horse racing and a good night out, Hollywood crowds among them, and restaurants sprang up to feed them.
Caesar Cardini, born in northern Italy, had emigrated to the United States and run restaurants in California before opening one in Tijuana. His customers were largely American, they were there to enjoy themselves, and they liked a bit of theatre. That detail matters, because the Caesar salad was, from the beginning, a show.
The Fourth of July story
The story goes like this. On 4 July 1924, the restaurant was packed with holiday visitors from across the border and the kitchen was running short. With few ingredients left, Cardini made a virtue of it. He took what was on hand, romaine lettuce, eggs, olive oil, lemons, Worcestershire sauce, Parmesan, garlic and bread for croutons, and tossed it all together at the table, with a flourish, in front of his guests.
This is the version his daughter, Rosa Cardini, told for the rest of her life, and it's the one most food writers repeat. It may well be true. But it's worth being clear about what it rests on: family memory, recalled many years later, rather than a menu or a newspaper report from the day itself.
The rival claims
Like many famous dishes, the Caesar has more than one would-be parent. Caesar's brother, Alex Cardini, who had served as a pilot in the Italian air force, is said to have made an "aviator's salad" for pilots from a nearby air base, and some accounts say this was the true original. Livio Santini, who worked in the Cardini kitchen, later said that he had made the salad first, from a recipe of his mother's, and that his boss took the credit.
A century on, none of these claims can be proved or disproved. The fairest summary is that the salad came out of the Cardini restaurant in Tijuana in the 1920s, and that Caesar Cardini's name is the one that stuck.
What was in the original?
From the descriptions that survive, the first Caesar was a little different from the one you'll find in a supermarket bag today:
- Whole leaves. Inner romaine leaves were left whole, to be picked up by the stalk and eaten with the fingers.
- Coddled eggs. Eggs boiled for about a minute, so they thickened the dressing and made it silky.
- Olive oil, lemon, garlic and black pepper, with a dash of Worcestershire sauce.
- Parmesan and croutons fried in garlic-flavoured oil.
Notice what's missing. Rosa Cardini insisted that her father's salad contained no anchovy fillets. The faintly fishy, savoury depth came from the Worcestershire sauce, which itself contains anchovies. Many cooks today add anchovies anyway, and they are delicious, but they're a later addition rather than the original recipe.
The salad soon had famous fans. The American cook Julia Child later recalled being taken to Caesar's restaurant as a child in the 1920s and watching the salad being tossed at the table. By then its reputation was travelling north with every car that crossed the border.
How it conquered the world
From Tijuana, the Caesar made its way onto restaurant menus across the United States, helped along by the Hollywood visitors who had tasted it there. Cardini later moved to Los Angeles, where his dressing was bottled and sold. As it spread, the salad changed: leaves were chopped, the egg made way for mayonnaise-style bottled dressings, and grilled chicken arrived to turn a side dish into a meal. Today there are kale Caesars, Caesar wraps and grilled Caesars, all a long way from that holiday weekend in 1924. In Tijuana, a restaurant called Caesar's still stands on Avenida Revolución, and it still makes the salad at the table.
Making a Caesar at home today
A Caesar is simple, which means every ingredient counts. A few things make the difference:
- Cold, crisp, dry leaves. Use romaine hearts or Little Gem, washed and dried thoroughly. Wet leaves dilute the dressing and slide around the bowl.
- Real Parmesan, freshly grated. Parmigiano Reggiano or a good Grana Padano gives the salty, nutty backbone. Pre-grated cheese tastes flat.
- Garlic in the oil, not in chunks. Crush a clove into the olive oil and leave it for 15 minutes, then use that oil for the dressing and the croutons.
- Croutons from proper bread. Tear day-old bread into pieces and fry them in the garlic oil until golden. For a low-carb crunch, bake little piles of grated Parmesan into lacy crisps instead.
- Dress at the last moment. Toss in a big, wide bowl just before serving so the leaves stay crisp.
If you want to try it without the bread, The Keto & Low-Carb Kitchen has a Caesar Salad without Croutons that gets its crunch from Parmesan, a Grilled Little Gem with Caesar Dressing that keeps the leaves whole, as Cardini did, and a Keto Caesar Dressing to keep in the fridge. The Chicken Caesar Salad with Parmesan Crisps is the modern, main-course version. For other ways to swap bread and pasta without losing the pleasure, see our guide to low-carb swaps.
Tip: eggs and safety. The classic dressing uses raw or barely cooked egg. If you're serving anyone pregnant, elderly, very young or unwell, use pasteurised eggs, or make the dressing with a spoonful of good mayonnaise instead of the coddled egg.
You'll find more Caesar variations, from kale with crispy chickpeas to grilled romaine, by searching caesar in the recipe finder.
Questions people ask
Who invented the Caesar salad?
It's generally credited to Caesar Cardini, an Italian-born restaurateur, at his restaurant in Tijuana, Mexico, in the 1920s. His brother Alex and a cook called Livio Santini also claimed it, and none of the rival stories can be proved.
Is the Caesar salad named after Julius Caesar?
No. It's named after Caesar Cardini. The Roman connection is only a coincidence of names.
Does real Caesar dressing have anchovies?
According to Cardini's daughter, the original had no anchovy fillets. Its savoury depth came from Worcestershire sauce, which contains anchovies. Adding them is a later, and popular, variation.
Is it safe to use raw egg in Caesar dressing?
For most healthy adults, fresh eggs from a reputable source are a low risk, but pasteurised eggs are the safer choice for anyone pregnant, elderly, very young or with a weakened immune system. Follow the food-safety guidance where you live.