Shopska Salad

Shopska or Shopi is a regional reference to the inhabitants and the cuisine of the region of Shopluk (Шоплук, Šopluk) located in central Western Bulgaria (around Sofia and the adjacent areas).

photo: Snezhana Simeonova
A la Galadrielle

The region and its people have much in common with the inhabitants of central eastern Serbia (around Pirot) and the Republic of Macedonia (around Štip, Kratovo, Gevgelija and Strumica); called Bulgarians, Serbs and Macedonians respectively, they share a common history, culture and most importantly a preference for the great local traditions of simple foods, which are both hearty and satisfying.

Our friend Zena, an expatriate from the region shares her family's Shopska Salad, a classic by any standard.
здрав съм

Ingredients:

• 4 tomatoes
  
• 1 small cucumber
  
• 0.5 kg fleshy peppers
  
• 1 onion /or two spring onions/
  
• 1 cupful of grated white cheese
  
• 5 hot peppers (optional)
  
• a small bunch of parsley
  
• a coffee cup full of vegetable oil
  
• salt

Directions:

Wash and clean the vegetables. Remove the stem and the seeds of the peppers (raw or roasted and peeled). Slice them. Cut the tomatoes and the cucumber into small cubes. Chop the onion and the parsley. Mix everything, add salt and mix again. Shape the mixture into a "hemisphere" in the salad dish. Add the vegetable oil. Cover with an even layer of grated white cheese. You may put an olive, a tomato rose or several leaves of parsley on top of the salad. Add a hot pepper to each portion.

If you have a classic family recipe you'ld like to share send it to "Classics" at Rick’s Place, we'd love to hear from you.

Here's cooking at you kid, Rick

Presenting Caesar Salad

The origin of the Caesar Salad is obscure however the generally accepted version is that its first presentation in the 1920s was by an Italian expatriate, born Cesare Cardini. Cardini and his brother Alessandro moved to San Diego from Milan after World War I opening a restaurant across the border in Tijuana, Mexico, ostensibly to woo Americans frustrated by Prohibition.

Caesar's Café or Caesar's Place on the ground floor of the Hotel Comercial at the corner of 2nd Street and Revolution Blvd, exits today though it was relocated in 1929 to Hotel Caesar's a few blocks away near the corner of 5th Street.

This classic salad can be a meal in itself and it is deliciously easy to make. Cardini’s waiters would prepare the Caesar at the table to the delight and presumably admiration of their guests.

Today, Caesar Salad typically includes anchovy; Cardini’s original masterpiece did not so we’ve left it out for the purists.

As for the raw egg, well it would be foolish to recommend raw eggs in today’s mystery world of imports and factory production methods; you’ll have to be your own judge. Some Caesar swanks suggest a coddled egg (in boiling water 30-45 seconds).

A safe solution and vegetarian is to use silken tofu, which emulsifies very nicely with the rest of Cardini’s impossibly simple, magnificent list of…

Ingredients: Classic

• 1/2 cup day-old bread, cubed
  
• 1 large egg
  
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/3 cup virgin olive oil (more probably garlic oil prepared by placing 4-5 cloves of garlic, peeled and quartered, in a good quality (e.g. Extra Virgin) olive oil and letting it stand at room temperature several hours or even up to 5 days
• 2 medium heads of romaine lettuce -- outer leaves removed
• 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese -- grated

Ingredients: Neo classic

• 1/4 cup silken tofu
  
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (suggestion: use this vegan, contains no anchovy)
  
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  
• 1 medium garlic clove, crushed
  
• 1 pinch salt
  
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  
• 1 teaspoon capers
  
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  
• 1/3 cup virgin olive oil
  
• 2 medium heads of romaine lettuce -- outer leaves removed
  
• 1/3 cup vegetarian Parmesan cheese -- grated

Preparation:

Combine the Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, garlic, salt & pepper, mustard and capers in a bowl. Crack egg and add to the mix ingredients. Whisk until smooth.

Slowly drizzle the oil in a steady stream as you whisk, again until smooth. If you add the oil too quickly or all at once, the dressing will separate out and not emulsify.

To serve:

Tear the romaine into pieces roughly 1-2 inch pieces (the original Caesar chefs used whole roamaine leaves, which were then coated with the dressing) adding them to a large bowl. Apply half the dressing, toss briefly and with a little flair please, after all this is a Caesar you’re presenting not a side salad. Add remaining dressing, Parmesan cheese, croutons and toss once again.

Serve on chilled plates.