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Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken
Giacomo teaches a professional-grade Caesar salad from scratch, including homemade croutons with garlic and olive oil, a thick emulsified Caesar dressing built on egg yolks, anchovies, Parmesan, and Dijon mustard, plus a brined and seared chicken breast. He covers the history of the dish, created by Italian restaurateur César Cardini in Tijuana around 1920, and shares restaurant tricks from his years serving hundreds of Caesar salads at a Ritz-Carlton beach restaurant.
Ingredients
Caesar Dressing
- 3 unit Egg yolks
- 4 fillets Anchovies
- 30 g Parmesan cheese (grated)
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 clove Garlic (pureed)
- 1 tbsp Vinegar
- 0.5 tsp Salt
- 80 ml Olive oil (added in a thin stream)
- 80 ml Vegetable oil (added in a thin stream)
Chicken
- 1 half breast Chicken breast (brined 20 minutes in 10% salt solution)
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard (brushed on chicken)
- 1 tbsp Olive oil
- 1 pinch Salt (light, chicken already has salt from brine)
- 1 pinch Black pepper (freshly ground)
Croutons
- 0.5 unit Baguette (cut into cubes, preferably day-old or refrigerated)
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 0.5 clove Garlic (scraped into puree using knife spine technique)
- 1 pinch Salt
- 1 pinch Black pepper (freshly ground)
Salad
- 1 head Romaine lettuce (washed, torn by hand into 2-3 pieces per leaf)
- 60 g Parmesan cheese (grated, divided for dressing and topping)
- 1 tsp Black pepper (freshly ground)
- 1 pinch Salt
- 4 slices Bacon (baked crispy in the oven, broken by hand) optional
Steps
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1Cut the baguette into small cubes. Use bread that has slight acidity — a real baguette works best. Day-old or refrigerated bread is easier to cut and holds its shape better.Tip: Refrigerated bread is easier to cut into uniform cubes~5 min
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2Make garlic puree: place the clove on the edge of the cutting board, flip the knife and use the spine to scrape the garlic into a fine paste, then flip the knife back and go over it with the blade for an even finer puree.Tip: The more you manipulate garlic, the more potent its aroma becomes~2 min
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3Toss the bread cubes with olive oil, salt, freshly ground black pepper, and the garlic puree until evenly coated. Spread on a foil-lined baking tray.Tip: Line the tray with foil for easier cleanup~3 min
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4Bake the croutons at 180°C (350°F) for 10-12 minutes until golden and crispy. If making bacon, place bacon slices in the oven at the same time.Tip: In humid climates like Lima, make croutons fresh for same-day use; in drier climates they keep 2-3 days in a container~12 min
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5For the dressing, place all solids in a blender or bowl: egg yolks, anchovies, grated Parmesan, Dijon mustard, garlic puree, vinegar, and salt. Blend or whisk into a paste.Tip: This is a cold stable emulsion — the lecithin in egg yolks acts as the emulsifier~3 min
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6With the blender running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil and vegetable oil in a thin stream to emulsify. The dressing should become very thick, like a firm mayonnaise.Tip: Start with a thick dressing — you can always thin it with water or vinegar later. A thick dressing coats romaine lettuce better since the leaves are mostly water.~5 min
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7Season the brined chicken breast lightly with salt (it already has salt from the brine), pepper, and brush generously with Dijon mustard on both sides.Tip: Brine chicken for 20 minutes in a 10% salt solution for juicy results — see Giacomo's salmuera video~2 min
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8Heat a skillet with olive oil. Add olive oil to both sides of the chicken. Sear skin-side down first for about 5 minutes per side. Finish in the 180°C oven for 3-5 minutes if needed.Tip: Always start searing on the skin side for best color and texture~13 min
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9Wash and tear romaine lettuce leaves by hand into 2-3 pieces each. Place in a large bowl with some croutons, broken crispy bacon if using, grated Parmesan, a pinch of pepper and salt.Tip: Always tear romaine by hand, never cut with a knife~3 min
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10Add a generous spoonful of the thick Caesar dressing and toss everything together by hand — hands are the best tool for distributing the dressing evenly on every leaf.Tip: Wear gloves for hygiene, and layer multiple gloves so you can peel one off and keep working — a restaurant trick from Giacomo~2 min
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11Plate the salad building height. Slice the rested chicken breast lengthwise and cut a flat edge on each piece so it stands upright on the plate. Add a small amount of dressing on the plate, place the chicken, top with more Parmesan, croutons, black pepper, and optional anchovy fillets.Tip: Cut a flat edge on the chicken pieces so they stand upright for an elegant presentation~3 min
Nutrition (per serving)
620
Calories
42g
Protein
22g
Carbs
42g
Fat
4g
Fiber
Cultural Context
The Caesar salad was created around 1920 by César Cardini, an Italian restaurateur who operated restaurants in San Francisco, San Diego, and Tijuana. He opened in Tijuana to escape Prohibition-era alcohol bans in the US. According to his daughter, the salad was born on a Fourth of July when supplies ran low and Cardini improvised with romaine lettuce and croutons from what remained in his pantry. Originally the dish contained anchovies only through Worcestershire sauce; whole anchovies were added to the dressing starting in the 1940s. The salad became a signature tableside preparation where a maître d' would prepare it on a guéridon cart in front of diners, lending elegance to the dining experience. Giacomo recalls making this salad at age 17-18 as one of his first kitchen assignments, and later preparing 700-1000 portions per service at a Ritz-Carlton beach restaurant.
Giacomo Bocchio
LES VOY A ENSEÑAR A PREPARAR UNA ENSALADA CÉSAR ► GIACOMO BOCCHIO
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