An ode to Caesar Salad

Orgasmic Ceasar salad

Ok, HATE me but I am a fan of salads. And it's not because I am a health freak or whatever. It is just that there is nothing like a good, crunchy salad to fill your craving for something fresh as well as that urge to eat something RIGHT NOW without a lot of cooking. I am a great fan of the 'right now' style of cooking. Most salads are like that, toss whatever you have in your fridge (make sure there is something green, for form's sake), mix some vinegar or lemon with some oil and toss it over your leaves IN THE LAST MINUTE, for god's sake! Anyone who marinates their salad should be imprisoned as there is nothing sadder than leaves wilting with the salt and acid of a dressing. Ok, ok there is one other thing which when wilted is pretty sad but, I digress...

So, getting back to a caesar salad..it is the king of salads for me, even though I am not a huge fan of the anchovies needed for the dressing. I love the classic but gimme a chicken caesar and I will scarf it before you even ask me what the word 'scarf' means. A simple recipe I quite like is here

The above photo has got to be of one of the best Caesar salad's I have ever eaten, in La Mamounia hotel in Marrakesh, about 5 years ago. The romaine was crispy, the parmesan milky and firm, the croutons freshly made, accompanied by an oven roasted broiler chicken quarter....they even added some plum tomatoes gratuitously but hey, delicious sun-ripened tomatoes are NEVER to be disdained. It was so good that even today, I get transported back to this wonderful hotel and city. Which brings to mind, how often is it that one eats a Caesar which is not fit for even a poor, starving beggar? Oh too often :-( I still remember the time I had to return a 14€ supposed 'Caesar' which was, in reality, iceburg lettuce with half a pot of watery mayonaise and some oily croutons - barf! I was OUTRAGED and after demanding to talk to the chef, gave him a stern lecture on Caesars and, the management, on trying to sodomize me- in front of my very embarrassed friends. Hrumph!

La Mamounia courtyard