It is curious that «Caesar» (by the way, the most popular salad in the world) has nothing to do with Gaius Julius, or in general with Rome. We continue to talk about dishes that appeared randomly.
It was in the Mexican border city of Tijuana during the Great Depression, in the restaurant of the Italian Cesare (Caesar) Cardini. Here, fleeing from Prohibition, guests from the United States came. One company showed up quite late, when there were almost no provisions left. «Aut Caesar, aut nihil» («Pan or lost») — thought Cesare and prepared an appetizer from the available products: toasted bread with olive oil and garlic, Worcester sauce and parmesan.
The highlight was the dressing, a one-minute boiled egg, a glossy, enveloping dressing for lettuce leaves. Anchovies, chicken, shrimp — all these Caesar ingredients we are used to were not included in the original recipe, especially since it never had mayonnaise … Soon Caesar became popular and was even recognized in America as the «recipe of the century.»
Classic Caesar salad
Another treat we owe to the USA of the 1930s is chocolate chip cookies. Their author was Ruth Wakefield, and this story has two versions — which is better, you decide. One way or another, chocolate drops got into the dough of sugar cookies: either they woke up from the vibration of the mixer, or Ruth added them herself, wanting to bake chocolate cookies.
She thought that the drops would dissolve and mix with the dough when heated, but this did not happen — and the result exceeded expectations, leaving her name in history. Chocolate chip cookies became especially popular during World War II — thousands of American soldiers asked to be sent to the front.