Caesar Salad Turns 100: Its Secret History That Turned Into Big Business for Restaurants

It’s on just about every restaurant menu, but what is the secret history of the Caesar salad, and how did it become a big business for restaurants?

On July 4, 2024, Caesar salad celebrated the 100th anniversary of its creation. While Italian in origin, the crunchy, salty concoction surprisingly hails from Tijuana, Mexico. NPR reports the Caesar salad was created on July 4, 1924, by Caesar Cardini, an Italian immigrant.

The original recipe was developed to satisfy hungry revelers. Reportedly, Cardini had run out of almost everything at his restaurant because of partiers on that particular Fourth of July. He only had olive oil, Parmesan cheese, egg, Worcestershire sauce, and lettuce on hand. The chef mixed the ingredients in a big wooden bowl, and the dish was a huge hit.

Caesar salad has something to celebrate: It’s turning 100. https://t.co/38wvkoLl0W

— NBC Bay Area (@nbcbayarea) July 5, 2024

According to Phys.org, Caesar salad was not meant to be eaten with a fork. It was considered finger food. The salad leaves were meant to cradle the dressing ingredients. Therefore, customers were to pick up the lettuce leaves and eat them with their hands.

However, today, there are as many variations of the original Cardini recipe as restaurants serving it. The Guardian quoted Claudio Poblete, a Mexican food critic and writer, who believes that salad fans don’t even know it hails from Mexico.

“This is the first time in the 100 years of this Caesar salad that the world is going to know it’s from Mexico,” Poblete said. The multicultural salad blends Italian and Mexican flavors, with its primary umami flavor coming from Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce, which Mexicans call “salsa inglesa.”

Newer versions mash anchovies directly into the dressing or add fish sauce rather than Worcestershire sauce. Interestingly, many of today’s popular add-ins for Caesar salad, such as croutons, anchovies, and bacon, are not in the original recipe.

Today’s restaurants continue adding the delicious salad to their menus, alongside other items, as customers crave its umami flavors. The Associated Press reports that around 35% of U.S. restaurants have Caesar salad on their menus, according to Technomic, a consulting firm. It also found that around 43 million bottles of Caesar salad dressing were sold over the last year in the United States, as reported by Nielsen IQ.

Cardini’s restaurant, Caesar’s, which he opened in Tijuana a few years after he created the salad, remains open for business, serving his original creation up to 300 times a day.