What Makes a Great Caesar Salad?

Is it the fresh, crispy, Cos (Romaine) lettuce?

Is it the hard-boiled egg – the crispy bacon – or the plump, ripe, cherry tomatoes?

Is it the parmesan cheese? (Yes there is some in there somewhere.)

What about the (enormous) home-made, seasoned croutons that were also created using home-made chilli infused olive oil?

What about the freshly made (oh yeah, home-made) Caesar Salad Dressing? (Ok, I cheated and started with store-bought mayonnaise, but I added everything else to make it Caesary.)

Is it any of these things, or all of them that add up to make a Caesar Salad great?

Sometimes I like to add extra salad vegetables. Capsicum (bell peppers) cut into long strips, pea sprouts, cucumber also cut into long strips and even the occasional handful of toasted sunflower seeds.

Sometimes, I’ll even add strips of freshly cooked chicken breast and make it a Chicken Caesar Salad.

And I have to mention that there is something to be said for adding a runny, soft-boiled egg as opposed to a hard-boiled one.

The thing about making Caesar Salad at home is that you really can add as little or as much of any ingredient you like to personalise it to your own taste.

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But what made this salad a Great Caesar Salad was none of the above.

It was the bowl the salad was served in – an Ambrosia Zest Serving Bowl. I’m not sure whether or not this photo makes the bowl look huge or not, but they are the perfect size for serving salad as a main.

Complete with a handy handle, I’ve been dreaming of having two of these bowls since I first spotted them in a kitchen and homewares store a few years ago. But I could never justify paying the hefty price tag for one, let alone two.

Enter a lockdown – or at least the Australian version of ‘please stay home’ – and online shopping bargains enticing customers to continue spending their money.

It’s not that I was enticed, I was seeking some oven gloves for safely removing my cast iron casserole dish from the oven for bread making when I stumbled across the bowls and could hardly believe my luck. Not only were they on sale but I could get two for less than the price of one and free delivery.

I didn’t find the oven gloves, but I do make lots of different salads that will now be served in these bowls.

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Ok, so the bowl itself didn’t make the salad great per se, but it did stop my husband from making a mess everywhere and Caesar Salad can be like that at times when served on flat dinnerware.

What do you do to make your Caesar Salad great? I’d love to hear your thoughts . . .