Caesar's Salad

Serves 4 to 6

Discard outer leaves, break apart and wash whole leaves. Dry leaves well.

• 2 heads romaine

Place romaine in a large salad bowl and assemble all ingredients on a tray tableside. Pour about ½ cup of the garlic-flavored oil over the lettuce. Toss gently, using a rolling motion. Add salt and pepper, and toss slightly. Squeeze lemon juice over salad, and add the Worcestershire sauce. Break eggs over salad, add the remaining ¼ cup of oil and cheese and toss again until leaves are well-coated. Add croutons last and toss slightly.

• 3/4 cup garlic-flavored oil
• ½ tsp. each salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 large lemon, halved (about 2 ½ oz.)
• 6-8 drops Worcestershire sauce
• 2 coddled eggs
• ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup croutons

Arrange individual leaves on a dinner plate, stem-side out (the easier to eat with fingers, as Caesar Cardini intended.) Serve immediately.

Garlic-flavored Oil

Marinate garlic in oil. Cover and let sit 4 to 5 days. Remove garlic.

• 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup light vegetable oil
• 1 head of garlic - 8-10 large cloves, peeled and crushed

Coddled Eggs

Place eggs in pan of boiling water, and immediately remove from heat. After 1 minute, remove eggs from water and set aside.

Croutons

Remove crust and cut each slice of bread into 25 squares. Place cubes in large roasting pan and dribble with oil. Stir to coat. Bake in a 250° F oven for 30 minutes, flipping every 4 or 5 minutes to prevent burning.

• 2 loaves day old white bread
• 3/4 cup garlic-flavored oil

Rosa Cardini, her father's original version; newspaper recipe