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This July 4 marks 100 years since Caesar salad was invented in Tijuana

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

The Caesar salad is 100 years old today. NPR's Neda Ulaby brings us the noble Caesar's history.

NEDA ULABY, BYLINE: In the kitchen of an uptown restaurant in New Orleans, a chef in black T-shirt and jeans is prepping a grilled Caesar salad.

NATHANIAL ZIMET: We take a heart of romaine, and we cut the very top off, which is the very leafy, dark green.

ULABY: Here at the restaurant Boucherie, chef Nathanial Zimet says Caesars are a staple.

ZIMET: We have a grill on. We have lettuce. We have parmesan.

ULABY: Cooking lettuce, he admits, is not traditional, but he thinks Caesar salad is improved by searing the romaine.

ZIMET: It's almost like it locks in the crunch of it. And is it cold? No. Is it hot? No. Is it charred? Absolutely.

ULABY: Not many foods could be traced back to a specific date in history.

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ULABY: But in 1924, the Caesar salad was born at a popular Italian restaurant in Tijuana, Mexico.

JEFFREY PILCHER: This is an Italian salad.

ULABY: Culinary historian Jeffrey Pilcher studies Mexican foodways. In 1924, he says, Tijuana was a bustling border town popular with tourists during prohibition. Mobsters and movie stars flocked to Tijuana's bullfights and nightclubs, where you could enjoy a perfectly legal cocktail and listen to 1924 dance music like this.

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ULABY: Pilcher says the city was cosmopolitan, built by Mexicans, Chinese, people from California and elsewhere.

PILCHER: Caesar Cardini, the inventor of the salad, was an Italian immigrant. And there were many Italian immigrants to Mexico, and they opened up restaurants.

ULABY: Cardini's restaurant was completely overwhelmed by holiday travelers on July 4, 1924. They gobbled up everything. As legend has it, someone there - maybe Cardini, maybe his brother - desperately threw together a few provisions on hand, olive oil, lettuce, parmesan, egg. The salad at Caesar's restaurant was a hit. It still is.

ZIMET: We have a little Worcestershire, a very small amount of lemon juice and Tabasco.

ULABY: Caesar salads today, like at the New Orleans restaurant Boucherie, often include anchovies. But you'll also find them with kale, bacon, kimchi - all kinds of trendy ingredients. And that's why the Caesar endures, says chef Nathanial Zimet. The salad is a showcase for innovation yet rooted in resourcefulness and kitchen creativity. The Caesar is a salad for today and maybe for always.

Neda Ulaby, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Neda Ulaby reports on arts, entertainment, and cultural trends for NPR's Arts Desk.