# Caesar Salad and dressing- I love Caesar



## di reston

I love Caesar salad, but there seem to be lots of versions - Does anyone have a version that doesn't use anchovies, or are they essential, and what about crunchy bacon bits, as I have also seen those used? Looking forward to your replies!

di reston


Enough is never as good as a feast   Oscar Wilde


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## Andy M.

Neither anchovies nor bacon are part of the 'original' recipe.  Just pick a recipe that tastes good to you and go with it.  If you Google 'Original caesar salad recipe' you'll get several choices.


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## Aunt Bea

This is a simple knockoff of Caesar salad dressing that does not use anchovies or raw eggs.  I like it because it can be used over a period of several days.  It is a good basic creamy dressing that you can change by adding crumbled blue cheese, chopped herbs, bacon bits, etc...  

If I don't have fresh lemon juice I make it with red wine vinegar.  If it is too thick you can thin it with a little water.

Simple Creamy Caesar Dressing


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## Kayelle

Aunt Bea said:


> This is a simple knockoff of Caesar salad dressing that does not use anchovies or raw eggs.  I like it because it can be used over a period of several days.  It is a good basic creamy dressing that you can change by adding crumbled blue cheese, chopped herbs, bacon bits, etc...
> 
> If I don't have fresh lemon juice I make it with red wine vinegar.  If it is too thick you can thin it with a little water.
> 
> Simple Creamy Caesar Dressing



That's also the dipping sauce I use for our artichokes...just yummy.


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## Dawgluver

Aunt Bea said:


> This is a simple knockoff of Caesar salad dressing that does not use anchovies or raw eggs.  I like it because it can be used over a period of several days.  It is a good basic creamy dressing that you can change by adding crumbled blue cheese, chopped herbs, bacon bits, etc...
> 
> If I don't have fresh lemon juice I make it with red wine vinegar.  If it is too thick you can thin it with a little water.
> 
> Simple Creamy Caesar Dressing




I've made a similar dressing.  Very good!

Most of the Caesars in these parts are simply romaine, croutons, and dressing.  No anchovies or bacon bits.


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## Kayelle

Dawgluver said:


> I've made a similar dressing.  Very good!
> 
> Most of the Caesars in these parts are simply romaine, croutons, and dressing.  No anchovies or bacon bits.



*and* freshly grated Parmesan cheese! Gotta have the cheese!


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## Dawgluver

Kayelle said:


> *and* freshly grated Parmesan cheese! Gotta have the cheese!




Oh yeah!


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## Kayelle

Although I'm a huge bacon fan, it just never fits into my idea of this salad. For mine, I'd rather sprinkle it with anchovie bits.


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## rodentraiser

I watched a video once where Chef John used anchovy paste. He says it's a flavor enhancer. I've never seen it for sale, so I wouldn't know.

However, I did read once that Worcestershire sauce has fish oil in it and that's what's supposed to make it so flavorful. So.....instead of anchovies, you might want to consider the paste in a tube if you can find it.



Aunt Bea said:


> This is a simple knockoff of Caesar salad  dressing that does not use anchovies or raw eggs.  I like it because it  can be used over a period of several days.  It is a good basic creamy  dressing that you can change by adding crumbled blue cheese, chopped  herbs, bacon bits, etc...
> 
> If I don't have fresh lemon juice I make it with red wine vinegar.  If it is too thick you can thin it with a little water.
> 
> Simple Creamy Caesar Dressing



I wonder how this would taste with homemade mayonnaise.


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## Addie

Andy M. said:


> Neither anchovies nor bacon are part of the 'original' recipe.  Just pick a recipe that tastes good to you and go with it.  If you Google 'Original caesar salad recipe' you'll get several choices.



Or Google "History of Original Caesar Salad." 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesar Salad


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## Cheryl J

Aunt Bea said:


> This is a simple knockoff of Caesar salad dressing that does not use anchovies or raw eggs. I like it because it can be used over a period of several days. It is a good basic creamy dressing that you can change by adding crumbled blue cheese, chopped herbs, bacon bits, etc...
> 
> If I don't have fresh lemon juice I make it with red wine vinegar. If it is too thick you can thin it with a little water.
> 
> Simple Creamy Caesar Dressing


 
Thank you, AB! Copied and saved.


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## Kayelle

Aunt Bea said:


> This is a simple knockoff of Caesar salad dressing that does not use anchovies or raw eggs.  I like it because it can be used over a period of several days.  It is a good basic creamy dressing that you can change by adding crumbled blue cheese, chopped herbs, bacon bits, etc...
> 
> If I don't have fresh lemon juice I make it with red wine vinegar.  If it is too thick you can thin it with a little water.
> 
> Simple Creamy Caesar Dressing



I'll be adding a little squirt of anchovy paste to my next dressing mix..
love that *Umami* effect!


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## Aunt Bea

Kayelle said:


> I'll be adding a little squirt of anchovy paste to my next dressing mix..
> love that *Umami* effect!



I enjoy umami flavor too! 

I never have anchovy paste on hand and I'm too cheap to open a can of anchovies to make an everyday dressing.  I wonder if a squirt or two of soy sauce and a big pinch of mushroom dust would work.


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## GotGarlic

In the original recipe, the anchovy flavor came from Worcestershire sauce.


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## Kayelle

"Wooster" sauce!


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## Kayelle

Aunt Bea said:


> I enjoy umami flavor too!
> 
> I never have anchovy paste on hand and I'm too cheap to open a can of anchovies to make an everyday dressing. * I wonder if a squirt or two of soy sauce and a big pinch of mushroom dust would work.*



Sure wouldn't hurt!! If you have it, fish sauce would work too.


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## Dawgluver

I'm not an anchovy fan, but a small squirt of the anchovy paste in the tube is nice and convenient.

Many years ago, when I went on a Florida vacation with my family, I ordered a Caesar salad that unfortunately was covered in anchovy fillets.  I had to pick them out.  A small squirt of paste is much better.


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## rodentraiser

Kayelle said:


> "Wooster" sauce!



That's a town in Massachusetts. I think the sauce is pronounced something like WOO-ster-sher. At least I hope it is, because that's how I've been saying it. Otherwise I have to learn a new pronunciation and it took me years to learn to say that one.


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## Addie

rodentraiser said:


> That's a town in Massachusetts. I think the sauce is pronounced something like WOO-ster-sher. At least I hope it is, because that's how I've been saying it. Otherwise I have to learn a new pronunciation and it took me years to learn to say that one.



You almost have it right. Wooster-*share* And it is a major city located right in the heart of Massachusetts. 

Now try Gloucester. Gloss-stir. Named after the one in England. Located on our North Shore and was for a couple of centuries a major fishing community. Not so anymore. We now get a lot of our fish from Canada and Iceland.


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## Cooking Goddess

*rr*, "Wooster" is a small college town in OH.*** Massachusetts residents might pronounce their second-largest city "Wooster" (more like "Woostah"), but it is spelled "Worcester". There is so much we don't understand about this state. 

When I was a kid, I used to question my Mom constantly on why the condiment wasn't pronounced "wor-chester-shire". Drove that poor woman nuts.  We pronounced it "woor-shish-sure" in the Cleveland area.

***David Bowie's son, Duncan Zowie Jones, graduated from The College of Wooster. A friend of our son's graduated from there two years after he did, and did know who he was. Everybody knew, since it's a small college of around 2,000. Em says that Duncan was just one of them, just another student. When David Bowie and his wife Iman visisted campus they were just another set of parents. Like, normal!


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## Cheryl J

LOL CG.  My dad used to always pronounce it the way it looked, just to be funny. Wor-chester-shire. He always made a big deal of saying it that way. 
I call it wurster-sure. Whatever it's called, it's good. 

Very nice story about the Bowie family, too.


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## GotGarlic

Trisha Yearwood says her dad pronounces it "what's this here" sauce


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## Cheryl J

So did Emeril


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## Kayelle

Wooster is a boy chicken.


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## tenspeed

Kayelle said:


> Wooster is a boy chicken.


Found on the same farm as a wascally wabbit.


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## Aunt Bea

These posts remind me of Robin Williams impersonation of Elmer Fudd singing "Fire" by Bruce Springsteen!


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## CraigC

Cheryl J said:


> So did Emeril



And his recipe for homemade is excellent. The only issue we have with it is grating the horseradish. Worse than any onion we've ever worked with.


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## tenspeed

Aunt Bea said:


> These posts remind me of Robin Williams impersonation of Elmer Fudd singing "Fire" by Bruce Springsteen!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vT-VaMXsAw


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## msmofet

I like to use this brand of products in the tube. I add the anchovy paste to just about all my homemade oil and vinegar based salad dressings. It blends right in.







BTW I pronounce it wurster-shear sauce.


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## letscook

I have been making the recipe that Aunt bea posted for sometime.  I love it. The only thing I do different to it is I add a couple tablespoons of sour cream in it also and some black pepper.


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## rodentraiser

I was thinking of the pronunciation. I have a friend that lives in Worcester, MA. I couldn't pronounce the name of her town, so one day I decided to ask. When it comes to weird pronunciations, I like to know what I'm saying because I pronounce so many things wrong as it is. I had studied just a little Irish once and a customer came in the other day. So naturally, I sounded her name out and she said I was the first person who ever got it right. I had actually heard the name before, I just hadn't ever seen it in print.

Siobhan pronounced shih-VAHN. Pretty name.


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## Souschef

rodentraiser said:


> day. So naturally, I sounded her name out and she said I was the first person who ever got it right. I had actually heard the name before, I just hadn't ever seen it in print.
> 
> Siobhan pronounced shih-VAHN. Pretty name.



*Siobhán McKenna*

24 May 1923 – 16 November 1986) was an Irish stage and screen actress.


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## rodentraiser

I got the lyrics (in Irish) to Si Do Mhaimeo a month or so ago. Still working my way through that one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJyozfWJE7s




Aunt Bea said:


> This is a simple knockoff of Caesar salad  dressing that does not use anchovies or raw eggs.  I like it because it  can be used over a period of several days.  It is a good basic creamy  dressing that you can change by adding crumbled blue cheese, chopped  herbs, bacon bits, etc...
> 
> If I don't have fresh lemon juice I make it with red wine vinegar.  If it is too thick you can thin it with a little water.
> 
> Simple Creamy Caesar Dressing



I meant to say thank you for this recipe. I love Caesar dressing and I'm trying to get recipes to the ones I like.


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## Lance Bushrod

I make caesar salad several times a month and use the Joy of Cooking recipe for the dressing. I can't get enough anchovies and use a can per salad. I don't have a problem with raw eggs and usually add it to the dressing. 

Most stores in the NW have anchovy paste in the canned meat section, it's where I find it; good stuff.


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## medtran49

We got to see Celtic Woman last year when they were in Fort Lauderdale.  What a great show!

When I make Cesar dressing, I make a paste with the anchovies, garlic and salt by chopping and mashing/dragging with my chef's knife.


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## Lance Bushrod

I just put it all in a Ball jelly jar and shake it up.


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## medtran49

Lance Bushrod said:


> I just put it all in a Ball jelly jar and shake it up.



So do I, except I use a plastic bottle, but you still have to chop up the garlic and anchovies if you are using whole ones, so I make a paste so it will better incorporate.


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## Sir_Loin_of_Beef

The original Caesar Salad

The Original Caesar Salad | Mexico: One Plate at a Time | The Live Well Network


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