The First Caesar Salad Julia Child Ever Had Was Served By Its Inventor

Julia Child's food adventures were once-in-a-lifetime experiences that started well before she became a cooking icon. In the 1975 book, "From Julia Child's Kitchen," she recounted a childhood memory of being served her first Caesar salad by none other than its inventor: Caesar Cardini.

"I am probably one of the few people around who saw the real Caesar Cardini making his salad," she wrote. "I was about nine when my parents took me to his restaurant in Tijuana, [Mexico], just the other side of the border from San Diego. They were so excited when big jolly Caesar himself came to the table to make the salad, which had already been written up and talked about everywhere."

If you ask us, that sounds like a Caesar salad experience for the ages! However, Child also revealed that Cardini changed this salad's format due to negative feedback from customers. So perhaps the legend makes the experience sound more fantastic than the actual experience really was.

Caesar salad was invented by Caesar Cardini in the early 1920s. By that time, the Italian chef had moved to Tijuana and established his restaurant, Caesar's Place. The original salad (which is the version that Child first enjoyed) had all of the elements of the Caesar we know and love: romaine lettuce, velvety dressing, croutons, and Parmesan cheese.

What was different was that whole lettuce leaves were tossed in the dressing so customers could pick up each leaf and chew it. While Child noted that this provided the salad with a dramatic flair, many customers preferred not to have their fingers covered in salad dressing. Cardini eventually changed the salad to use chopped romaine to make it easier to eat with a fork. Despite this change, Child remained a fan of the original salad and used it as inspiration for her version of the dish. "You can certainly serve it the original way at home –- just provide your guests with plenty of big paper napkins," she wrote.

Beyond using whole lettuce leaves, you can make your own Caesar salad more exciting in a number of other ways. You could grill up the lettuce until it's slightly charred to give the salad a pleasant, smoky flavor; add anchovy paste to bottled Caesar dressing so it tastes just as good as the restaurant version; or, ditch the bread and make halloumi croutons instead for extra cheesiness.