July 24, 2023 • 29 mins
This simple classic of American steakhouses has a contested history -- but it definitely begins in Mexico. Anney and Lauren toss around the history and culture of the caesar salad.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Hell no, And welcome to Saber Protection of iHeartRadio. I'm
Annie Reese and I'm Lauren Vogelbaum.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
And today we have an episode for you about caesar salad.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Yes, and it's a very fun one. And I have
a craving where I didn't anticipate necessarily having a craving.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Oh yeah, Oh I knew, Oh I knew what was coming.
I love a caesar salad.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
I love a good one.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
And I feel like I put that specifier on there
because when I think of caesar salad, and I know
some people are going to roll over when they hear this,
I think of red lobster, okay, because they have that option.
When you got a meal, you had like three salad
options and one was a caesar and because.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Oh, people are going to be really mad.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
No, but because the dressing they used was much more
mayonnaise based than I think a traditional caesar is.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Well, you're just making fresh mayonnaise when you make a
caesar dressing kind of sort of so, but it was kind.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Of like that much goopier like wrench version, like crench
over it. And it also had onions, like big pieces
of onions that were like really four in.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Their flavor profile.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
I love onion, but like a lot in the balance
might not have been there, so I can I can understand,
and I know that is not what a caesar can be.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
What it is, but that's sort of been my.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
That's okay, whatever, Hey, that's all right. We all we
all come by our caesar salad in our own way.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
We do. But I did recently have a really good one,
because well, this is going to date. It's not that recent,
but time is whatever.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
When Obama came to town, he went to a place
and got a caesar salad. Oh sure, right, and then
everybody wanted it, and it's actually right near me, and
so I went and got it, and I was like.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Yep, this is really it's really good.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
I see.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
We've had this one kind of on the back burner
for a while. Was there any particular reason, mind.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Gosh, I think I was. I think I was just
trying to okay, I was. I was looking for a
salad topic, because salad topics tend to be kind of funny,
like like sort of sort of weird, little little semi
recent back histories. And also our dear friend Cody, friend
of the show, has a thing where like they mostly
(02:44):
only eat salads during the summer. They're like, well, that's it,
like not interested in any other food, So here's my
salad summer. And when I I don't know, like Caesar's
are one of the first salads I think of when
I think of a salad, because I'm a huge sucker
for like nostalgic, mid century steakhouse kind of cuisine.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Yeah, which we have.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
We've talked about salad before, and we've talked I feel
like we talked about Cobb salad, and we also talked
about the Wedge when we did our Iceberg Lettuce episode.
But a lot of them do kind of have that
like old steakhouse thing. And then there's always a celebrity connection.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Somehow, oh yeah, always yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Yeah, But I was surprised to learn too that your
friend Cody is not way off. A lot of people
do seemingly associate Caesar sounad this summer.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Okay, sure, yeah, Well July fourth, as it happens, is
National Caesar Salad Day. I don't think it has anything
to do with that, but.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Yeah, no, but still I can see it. I also,
I love a good salad in the summer, so I'm right.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
There, right, Chris refreshing.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Yeah, oh yes, of like textures and flavors.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Well, speaking of, I guess that brings us to our question,
caesar salad.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
What is it?
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Well, a caesar salad is a type of cold salad
that can be composed a bunch of different ways, But
you're basically looking at a base of crunchy romaine lettuce
dressed in a like rich but bright, savory, creamy salty
tangy dressing and topped with a shaved or ground parmesan cheese,
(04:33):
crunchy croutons, and cracked black pepper. The effect is like
kind of indulgent, but in this like light, fun sort
of way, because you're you're getting these like two different
crunchy textures from the lettuce and the croutons, and then
two different creamy textures from the dressing and the cheese,
and then these little bursts of like pike in black pepper. Yeah.
(04:54):
It's often served as an appetizer or a side dish,
especially with heavier, mid century kind of French inspired American meals.
It is a steakhouse classic. It's thus considered to be
a little bit like maybe basic, or at least nostalgic
in the US, but a good one can be so good.
Like they say that you don't make friends with salad,
(05:15):
but I sort of disagree on this one, Like you
can make friends with a caesar.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Good friends like a friend.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
There is some disagreement about the correct way to make
a caesar, as you might have gathered from Annie's sort
of fear of judgment, like should the romaine leaves be
served whole or chopped? Should the croutons be seasoned with
herbs or garlic or neither. The dressing is really the
(05:48):
crux of it, though. What you're again basically looking at
is either lemon or lime, juice, wister sher sauce, garlic, parmesan, cheese,
and salt and pepper, all bound together and made rich
and creamy using an egg yolk and like maybe a
little bit of prepared mustard like dijon. Some recipes may
(06:08):
involve oil or vinegar too, and often there's going to
be some like extra savory salty influence from whole anchovies
that are blended into the dressing mix. But people love
arguing about this. We're going to get into some of
that in the history section. The original is said to
have been made table side with a like loose dressing
(06:30):
coming together on the spot, But more modernly we usually
pre make the dressing to ensure that it's fully emulsified.
That is, that the oils and the watery components are
playing nice and not separating, so that all of the
flavors and textures of the dressing like evenly coat the
leaves so that you get a little bit in every bite. Yeah,
and that's because, Okay, lettuces like romaine have this like
(06:53):
microcoating of waxy stuff that helps them not get sogged
down by rain water. Water runs right off the leaves.
You've probably witnessed this when you've washed to lettuce leaf.
But oils will adhere to that waxy coating. So by
making sure that the watery elements of the dressing like
like lemon juice and worcestershire are properly bonded to your
(07:16):
oil elements, the whole salad will play nice. Yeah. Egg
yolk contains both fats, your oils and stuff that helps
with emultification. Mustard contains different emulsifiers mucilage that can help
as well. I'm not going to tell you that there's
a right way to do it no, because then, of
course there are also all kinds of riffs, you know,
(07:38):
like different greens. Maybe you want to roogle it in
there or an end dive. Maybe you want to grill
the romaine before you put it down. Maybe you want
to serve it in a wedge. I can't tell you.
Maybe you want a different crunchy element instead of croutons.
I've seen a fried chickpeas offered up. That sounds great.
Maybe you want other protein, like a grilled chicken or
(07:58):
a shrimp. Toss some tomatoes or avocado on there. I
don't know. Start your dressing with prepared mayo instead of
a fresh egg. I can think that you're wrong, but
I cannot tell you what to do.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
I see now.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
No, No, there's nothing wrong with taking shortcuts, and there
is nothing nothing wrong with adding your own flair.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
Yeah flair. Yeah, but it's also fun to find about
it sometimes I get it.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Yeah, Well what about the nutrition?
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Oh, it really depends on how you make it on
its own. The classic recipe isn't really that heavy, like
unless you really overdo it on the parmesan. Prepared dressings, however,
that are like bottled and sold to to restaurants or
to consumers tend to be pretty heavy on oils, which
are nutritionally dense, and also on salts, which we can overeat.
(08:51):
So like, watch your portion sizes depending either way. You know,
probably pair with a protein that isn't cheese to help
keep you going.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
I both agree with you, and I'm not happy that
I can't just eat more cheese.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
But yes, you are correct.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
I mean if you want to pair it with more
cheese again, I cannot stop you like that. I would
not and cannot, so I support your decisions.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Oh, thanks any time. We do have some numbers for you, Okay.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
According to you gov dot com, which collects data like this,
ninety eight percent of Americans have heard of Caesar salad,
including one hundred percent of baby boomers. It is furthermore
liked by seventy five percent of us and only actively
disliked by nine percent.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
Wow. Like Caesar salad, I know, right.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Caesar's are so ubiquitous that they were chosen for this
research that was published in twenty twenty three about the
sustainability options of salad packaging. They chose to focus on
Caesar because it was so ubiquitous and so like basic
four element kind of thing, like you've got the lettuce,
the dressing, the croutons, and the cheese, and they were like,
(10:06):
we can track this, that's trackable. They identified one hundred
and fifty one unique ways to package the ingredients for
a Caesar for consumer sale day, and just to very
basically sum up, those bagged salad kits and anything that
comes in a flexible bag really are actually less impactful
than any kind of plastic clamshell packaging. If you've ever
(10:26):
wondered about that, and I have, so, hey, yeah, choose
flexible bags. I guess we have some Guinness records for you.
The Guinness record for the most Caesar salads made in
an hour was achieved in twenty ten in Arizona. The
chef Bob Bloomer. Blummer made one hundred and eight salads
(10:47):
in that time period. He actually made one hundred and ten,
but two were disqualified, one because it was underweight and
one for having to be replaited. Oh okay, yeah, strict, Yeah,
you know, you know, you can't mess around.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
It's true, you can't trying to get a Caesar salad record.
You can't mess around.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
And then the Guinness record for the largest Caesar Salad
was achieved in two thousand and seven in Tijuana, which
is the salad's birthplace. Spoiler alert. One hundred and sixty
people helped make the salad and it weighed three point
two eight seven metric tons, which equals about seven two
(11:28):
hundred and forty six pounds.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
No, I can't fathom it. I can't. I can't. It's
too much salad, so much salad.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Who Okay, well, well it's been spoiled. But we will
go into the history.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Of the Caesar salad.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Oh yes we will, but first we are going to
take a quick break forward from our sponsors and we're back.
Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
So yes.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
A lot of people think that the name Caesar salad
comes from Julius Caesar.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
I believe I've thought that at one point in my life.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Oh sure, probably, yeah, yeah, like Anchobi Caesar.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
It matches, it does, right, easy peasy. But this is
not true. It comes from Caesar Cardini. Caesar Cardini who
was born in Italy in eighteen ninety six. Information about
his early life is scarce, but sometime in the nineteen
twenties he immigrated to North America, a nineteen nineteen ad
(12:42):
about the grand opening of a joint venture restaurant had
his name attached to it.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
This is like literally slothing clues together.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Yeah, yeah, and he was one of the two of
this venture, which indicates that he was in northern California
at the time where the restaurant was located, though the
ad also mentioned that he had worked in San Francisco previously.
But okay, yes, Within the next few years he made
his way to San Diego, where he opened a French restaurant,
(13:11):
and then, when prohibition was enacted in the US in
nineteen twenty, Cardini opened a restaurant in Tijuana, Mexico, where
he could serve alcohol. Yes, the location was purposely chosen too,
because it was close enough for well off Southern Californians
to get to it if they wanted to have something
to drink or are other things. The Los Angeles Times
(13:33):
once named Tijuana the city that was Vegas before Vegas.
But it was a place where Californians and celebrities went
to escape and indulge and drink and gamble. And it
was here the Caesar salad was born.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
So the legend goes yes, yes, and quite a legend.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
It is.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
According to Cardini's daughter Rosa, the salad was invented on
July fourth, nineteen twenty four. It goes that the restaurant
was slammed with Americans, and thus the kitchen was low
on several ingredients. Cardini gathered what he had lettuce stocks, eggs, croutons,
Parmisan cheese, olive oil, and wished to sure sauce and
(14:15):
came up with a dish. It was originally intended as
a finger food that was made tableside to add flair
and I'm sure make it seem fancier that also feels
like a very steakhouse thing. Oh yeah, and people fell
in love with it. I mean, it is a good
marketing technique. You see it, You're like, oh, I want that.
It's right over there.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Oh yeah, yeah, they're making it right there. It looks
so fancy. I want to taste that, sure, yeah, yeah yeah.
So the dressing would be made table side and then
served either over like the tips of the leaves and
you would grab the stem or is like a kind
of dipping situation. I think more that first thing.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
But yeah, anyway, yes, yes, And also, of course there
are alternate versions of this tail. One is that it
it wasn't Caesar who came up with any of this,
but his brother, Alessandro Alex Cardini. Alex was a fighter
pilot during World War One, but came to help out
(15:10):
with his brother's Tijuana restaurant after that, and he ended
up connecting with a group of American airmen who came
in one night as a fellow pilot. He wanted them
to have a good time and enjoy the restaurant, so
he pulled together a finger food dish based on what
he could find in the kitchen, pretty much what we
described listed earlier, but with the addition of anchovies.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Hm.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Yes, and he called his creation. So the story goes
aviators salad, and the salad was popular, and when Alex
left to open his own restaurant, Caesar didn't wait to
give it his own name.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
Oh yes, that's what Alex says.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Yet another theory suggests it was an employee at Caesar's
restaurant named Livio Santini, who was also Italian immigrants, and
he came up with the recipe based on something his
mom used to make. There's also two other stories that
don't really get talked about much, but I was like,
wait a minute, Oh, a mobster and a former business
(16:14):
partner might have also been behind the separately, not together
as char as I know.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Yeah, oh, you never know.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
But whoever did it, it was a very, very popular dish,
and it gained such popularity that it became a tourist
draw on its own. Julia Child wrote about her nineteen
twenties visit to the restaurant and ordering the salad. Quote
Caesar himself rolled the big cart up to the table,
tossed the remain in a great wooden bowl. And I
(16:44):
wish I could say I remembered his every move, but
I don't. It was a sensation of a salad from
coast to coast, and there were even rumblings of its
success in Europe. How could a mere salad cause such emotion?
H It was such a popular dish and spread to
so many restaurants that Caesar's daughter copyrighted the recipe in
nineteen forty eight. Until her death, she was adamant the
(17:08):
true recipe didn't include anchovies.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Yeah, and Julia backed her up. Although it should like
take it with a grain of salt, like like Julia
was I think in her sixties when she was writing
about this experience that she had when she was twelve.
So yes, it's so that's a situation, not saying she
didn't remember clearly, I don't know.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Yeah, I'm pretty sure.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
She also talked a lot about the like taking the
moment with the salad, like when you're mixing it, like
feel the spoons against the bowl, like having it like
an experience, you know, very Julia yeaes sweet because that
was part of it. It was like kind of this
experiential thing that was tied up with it was got
made table side or Yeah. When the family relocated to
(17:52):
Los Angeles, one of the ingredients switched out, which was
fresh lime juice for fresh lemon juice, which perhaps because
lemons were more available, or perhaps was just a language
mix up.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Yeah, because lemon in Spanish sounds like lemon English.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Yes. Also of note, the oldest detailed recounting of the
salad from Caesar didn't pop up until nineteen fifty two,
several decades after it was first served, so once again,
it could be some things not remembered or mixed up.
It included the generally agreed upon, the generally agreed upon ingredients,
(18:31):
no anchovies, but pear, vinegar, and mustard, which both Alex
and Rosa later went on to say no.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Mustard, definitely, no mustard.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Yes, and Paris's International Society of Epicure announced in nineteen
fifty three that the caesar salad was the greatest recipe
to come out of the Americas in fifty years, which
is so funny to be because a lot of people,
I do think, believe it comes from Europe. Sure, yeah,
and it does have like European influences for sure, but
(19:03):
it's just kind of that circular.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Also, like I feel like that's a really harsh disc America.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
Oh, come on, like part of pardon the caesar salad
is good, but also hold up.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
May I introduce you to a really good hamburger?
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Right?
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Like? No, maybe some barbecue. Have you heard of barbecue France?
Maybe they hadn't. Anyway. Meanwhile, a Caesar's restaurant in Tijuana
changed hands and over the course of the next few
decades became kind of unsuccessful and sort of divy, and
by two thousand and nine they closed down. But a
(19:45):
year later, local chef Javier Pasencia, I think I'm saying
that right, Yeah, his family restored its vibe and reopened
it and brought back the table side caesar salad, so
you can, as far as I'm aware, you can go
there to this day and go get one.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
Oh, listeners, please, if you have done it, please let
us know.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Oh my goodness, yes, yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
I definitely want a caesar salad in my future.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
I'm like planning where I'm going to get one.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
Ooh nice.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Yes, okay, Well that's what we have to say about
the caesar salad for now.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
It is.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
We do have some listener mill for you though, and
we are going to get into that as soon as
we get back from a quick break forward from our sponsors.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
And we're back. Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you, and
we're back with mixed. Yes, we've got some fun ones today.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
Okay, Rose wrote, I forgot to tell you a quick
Pokemon related story a few years back when Pokemon Go
and a limited time when you could catch special regional
only Pokemon outside their region. Some very clever person or
algorithm at Nintendo US division is based on Seattle put
the far fetched Pokemon at kimil Naki. The first morning
(21:24):
of the event, Chef Soma arrived to kim on Naki
to find tens of people hanging out in front of
her shop. By the second or third day, let's just
say she was not amused anymore.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
Oh no, I love it.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
You know we love a good Pokemon Fact. Super producer
Andrew is Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Especially Yeah, that's right because its name is kimil Neeggi
in Japanese.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
Yes, there you go.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Yes, this brought back the fond memory for me of
my one time when I was coming home in a
lift in our friend Chandler, who was playing Pokemon Go.
I'll ask the driver to stop. He was like, it's
a jim and the driver, bless him, was like, I
don't see a gym anywhere, and I was like this
Pokemon Go.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
And then because it's invisible, it's an invisible gym, it's
a poke Jym.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
We had the most fun. I'm trying to explain it
to him though. It was such a beautiful moment.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Well as long as he was game, that's really so lovely.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
He was ya he yah.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Okay, this next one has a bunch of Japanese in it,
and I'm gonna do my heck and very best. All right,
so here we go. He j wrote, I'm the guy
who made hoshigaki a dried per simmons by asking the
locals in my neighborhood in rural Japan. Since I last
sent you guys an email, I've moved to Osaka, which
you may have heard likes to call itself Japan's Kitchen.
(22:51):
I also have a couple of unfinished emails to you guys,
which I'll try to summarize here. Okay oshagaki and kim chi.
I tried making the hoshigaki again, but I wasn't able
to replicate it as well as I did the first time.
It could be the quality of the percimon I got
or the equality of the urban air is less conducive
for making hoshigaki. I had intended to give them away
(23:12):
as Christmas slash New Year's gifts, but they were not
very presentable. So as to avoid wasting perfectly good food,
I mixed them in as a sweet component of the
kimchi I was making from scratch. They added a nice
distinct flavor and a nice contrast to the heat of
the kimchi mangos. There are kinds of food that we
really like that's our go to thing to order. For example,
(23:34):
I really like a chicken ka aga, and it'll probably
hit the spot wherever I order it. However, there is
usually a couple things that we love so much that
we get really picky about it, and yet we still
order it despite knowing that it'll probably disappoint. That for
me is the mango. Even when I was a kid,
whenever we'd travel abroad, I'd always get a mango smoothie
(23:56):
or an ice cream, only to declare that it's not
as good as the mangoes from the Philippines. You're so right, okay.
I once said I could never move to a country
with bad mangoes. Well, now I live in Japan, a
country not known for mangoes. However, in Japan, Miyazaki Prefecture
is known for its mangoes, and last week we went
(24:17):
to a fruit parlor for a special Miyazaki mango par
fae that they were only serving for eight days this year.
It was twenty five hundred yen, which is like eighteen
bucks USD at the current exchange rate, but it certainly
feels like twenty five USD to those who live in Japan.
It was a work of art. The mangoes were ripe
(24:38):
and juicy. My partner Igi got a peach parfe made
of Dae Toryu peach literally President Peach. My verdict, if
you like mangoes, the mango parfe gets an A. However,
if you really love mangoes like I do, it's a B.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
We also both.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Agreed that the peach parfe was better. Anyway, I'm really
writing about soba. I understand that things are limited, but
Japan is more than just Tokyo and Kyoto. The three
main varieties of soba aren't even from Kyoto and Tokyo.
Japan has the Nihon Sandai soba, the Big three three
(25:18):
great sobas okay Uncle soba from the Lae Prefecture, Toga
kushi soba from the Lagano Prefecture, and Izumo soba from
the Shamanei Prefecture. No one is really sure who designated
these three as the big three of all soba varieties,
but I am predisposed to believing this list. Okay so
here we go is Zumo soba Iszumo Soba is a
(25:41):
cold soba like zaru, but in a round lacquerware called adigo.
Its noodles are nuttier than other soba varieties because the
husk is milled with the rest of the buckwheat. The
way you eat is zumo soba is different from other regions.
The thing they're served in are stacked one on top
of the other, usually three. Your toppings naughty grated radish
(26:02):
and or green onions, and pour the soba suu on
top of your first dish. After you finish the noodles,
you pour the remaining sueu and toppings into the next
bowl and add more toppings or sueo if you want. Finally,
as they do in proper soba restaurants all over Japan,
they will offer you some soba u the soba water.
(26:22):
You mix it with a bit of the suu to
taste and drink this warm soba u to get all
the possible nutrients out of the soba. As a bonus.
Here's what I had as a snack at Universal Studios
Japan today, green shell calzone with yuki soba and cheese.
It is a cow zone in the shape of a
green shell of a koopa from Super Mario, but the
(26:44):
filling is yuki soba and cheese. It's a playful take
on the yakisoba pond. Yaki soba served in bread that
looks like a hot dog bun. I guess it's the
cheese that really makes it more cowzone like. It was
a unique snack. I was not quite sure of what
to make of the texture of the bread, but I
enjoyed the yuki soba quite a bit, and stretchy cheese
(27:05):
is always fun to eat. It's a feeling snack that
hits the spot, especially when the other restaurants are already full.
As I mentioned before, I hope you too will be
able to visit the side of the World sooner rather
than later.
Speaker 3 (27:19):
Oh us too, Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
I mean oh yeah, I mean yeah. This little pond,
this little bun of turtleshell shape is very cute. Thank
you for sending photographs. That's amazing.
Speaker 3 (27:33):
This is super cute.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
It is not a combination I would have thought of,
but I bet it's pretty tasty.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
I mean right, I mean, put cheese in it, right.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
Put cheese it. Yeah. Oh my gosh, so cute.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Noodles and bread.
Speaker 3 (27:48):
I'm down exactly, exactly.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
Yeah. I'm making my way to Universal soonish and I'm
going to see I don't think the Super Mario World
is open there, but I don't know that they.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
Have any food. But if they do, oh okay, all right,
I will report back.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
Oh fun, I didn't even know that was occurring, but
that's exciting.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
Yeah, I didn't know it's part of universal, but I
guess it is.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
Thank you for all of this, Oh my goodness, and
I hope that I didn't mispronounce anything too too terribly.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
No, I think you did great. I don't ye, but
I feel like thanks, yeah, and yeah, thanks for ready.
A lot of people have written in about Soba. I'm
very excited because I still have my noodles. I haven't
cooked them yet, but yeah, this was very helpful.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Oh yeah, yeah, that was a super brief rundown of
Soba that we did in that episode. Like there's so
many varieties and I would and I got very overwhelmed,
and I was just like, these are the ways that
it can be. Here we go. So all of these
details are really beautiful and are making me hungry for
things that I've never had before.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
Yes, agreed. And also I think you're spot on about
your thoughts about mango, where there's just some foods where
you're like, I'm going to get it, but it won't
be as good as a yes, but.
Speaker 3 (29:01):
You love it so much. You have to get it. Yeah, yes, yes,
I do too. Well.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
Thank you so much to both of these listeners for
writing in. If you would like to write to us,
you can or emails hello at savorpod dot com.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
We are also on social media. You can find us
on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at saver pod and we
do hope to hear from you. Savor is production of iHeartRadio.
For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, you can visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows. Thanks as always to our superproducers Dylan
Fagan and Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening, and
(29:35):
we hope that lots more good things are coming your
way
Hell no, And welcome to Saber Protection of iHeartRadio. I'm
Annie Reese and I'm Lauren Vogelbaum.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
And today we have an episode for you about caesar salad.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Yes, and it's a very fun one. And I have
a craving where I didn't anticipate necessarily having a craving.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Oh yeah, Oh I knew, Oh I knew what was coming.
I love a caesar salad.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
I love a good one.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
And I feel like I put that specifier on there
because when I think of caesar salad, and I know
some people are going to roll over when they hear this,
I think of red lobster, okay, because they have that option.
When you got a meal, you had like three salad
options and one was a caesar and because.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Oh, people are going to be really mad.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
No, but because the dressing they used was much more
mayonnaise based than I think a traditional caesar is.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Well, you're just making fresh mayonnaise when you make a
caesar dressing kind of sort of so, but it was kind.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Of like that much goopier like wrench version, like crench
over it. And it also had onions, like big pieces
of onions that were like really four in.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Their flavor profile.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
I love onion, but like a lot in the balance
might not have been there, so I can I can understand,
and I know that is not what a caesar can be.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
What it is, but that's sort of been my.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
That's okay, whatever, Hey, that's all right. We all we
all come by our caesar salad in our own way.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
We do. But I did recently have a really good one,
because well, this is going to date. It's not that recent,
but time is whatever.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
When Obama came to town, he went to a place
and got a caesar salad. Oh sure, right, and then
everybody wanted it, and it's actually right near me, and
so I went and got it, and I was like.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Yep, this is really it's really good.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
I see.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
We've had this one kind of on the back burner
for a while. Was there any particular reason, mind.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Gosh, I think I was. I think I was just
trying to okay, I was. I was looking for a
salad topic, because salad topics tend to be kind of funny,
like like sort of sort of weird, little little semi
recent back histories. And also our dear friend Cody, friend
of the show, has a thing where like they mostly
(02:44):
only eat salads during the summer. They're like, well, that's it,
like not interested in any other food, So here's my
salad summer. And when I I don't know, like Caesar's
are one of the first salads I think of when
I think of a salad, because I'm a huge sucker
for like nostalgic, mid century steakhouse kind of cuisine.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Yeah, which we have.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
We've talked about salad before, and we've talked I feel
like we talked about Cobb salad, and we also talked
about the Wedge when we did our Iceberg Lettuce episode.
But a lot of them do kind of have that
like old steakhouse thing. And then there's always a celebrity connection.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Somehow, oh yeah, always yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Yeah, But I was surprised to learn too that your
friend Cody is not way off. A lot of people
do seemingly associate Caesar sounad this summer.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Okay, sure, yeah, Well July fourth, as it happens, is
National Caesar Salad Day. I don't think it has anything
to do with that, but.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Yeah, no, but still I can see it. I also,
I love a good salad in the summer, so I'm right.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
There, right, Chris refreshing.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Yeah, oh yes, of like textures and flavors.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Well, speaking of, I guess that brings us to our question,
caesar salad.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
What is it?
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Well, a caesar salad is a type of cold salad
that can be composed a bunch of different ways, But
you're basically looking at a base of crunchy romaine lettuce
dressed in a like rich but bright, savory, creamy salty
tangy dressing and topped with a shaved or ground parmesan cheese,
(04:33):
crunchy croutons, and cracked black pepper. The effect is like
kind of indulgent, but in this like light, fun sort
of way, because you're you're getting these like two different
crunchy textures from the lettuce and the croutons, and then
two different creamy textures from the dressing and the cheese,
and then these little bursts of like pike in black pepper. Yeah.
(04:54):
It's often served as an appetizer or a side dish,
especially with heavier, mid century kind of French inspired American meals.
It is a steakhouse classic. It's thus considered to be
a little bit like maybe basic, or at least nostalgic
in the US, but a good one can be so good.
Like they say that you don't make friends with salad,
(05:15):
but I sort of disagree on this one, Like you
can make friends with a caesar.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Good friends like a friend.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
There is some disagreement about the correct way to make
a caesar, as you might have gathered from Annie's sort
of fear of judgment, like should the romaine leaves be
served whole or chopped? Should the croutons be seasoned with
herbs or garlic or neither. The dressing is really the
(05:48):
crux of it, though. What you're again basically looking at
is either lemon or lime, juice, wister sher sauce, garlic, parmesan, cheese,
and salt and pepper, all bound together and made rich
and creamy using an egg yolk and like maybe a
little bit of prepared mustard like dijon. Some recipes may
(06:08):
involve oil or vinegar too, and often there's going to
be some like extra savory salty influence from whole anchovies
that are blended into the dressing mix. But people love
arguing about this. We're going to get into some of
that in the history section. The original is said to
have been made table side with a like loose dressing
(06:30):
coming together on the spot, But more modernly we usually
pre make the dressing to ensure that it's fully emulsified.
That is, that the oils and the watery components are
playing nice and not separating, so that all of the
flavors and textures of the dressing like evenly coat the
leaves so that you get a little bit in every bite. Yeah,
and that's because, Okay, lettuces like romaine have this like
(06:53):
microcoating of waxy stuff that helps them not get sogged
down by rain water. Water runs right off the leaves.
You've probably witnessed this when you've washed to lettuce leaf.
But oils will adhere to that waxy coating. So by
making sure that the watery elements of the dressing like
like lemon juice and worcestershire are properly bonded to your
(07:16):
oil elements, the whole salad will play nice. Yeah. Egg
yolk contains both fats, your oils and stuff that helps
with emultification. Mustard contains different emulsifiers mucilage that can help
as well. I'm not going to tell you that there's
a right way to do it no, because then, of
course there are also all kinds of riffs, you know,
(07:38):
like different greens. Maybe you want to roogle it in
there or an end dive. Maybe you want to grill
the romaine before you put it down. Maybe you want
to serve it in a wedge. I can't tell you.
Maybe you want a different crunchy element instead of croutons.
I've seen a fried chickpeas offered up. That sounds great.
Maybe you want other protein, like a grilled chicken or
(07:58):
a shrimp. Toss some tomatoes or avocado on there. I
don't know. Start your dressing with prepared mayo instead of
a fresh egg. I can think that you're wrong, but
I cannot tell you what to do.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
I see now.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
No, No, there's nothing wrong with taking shortcuts, and there
is nothing nothing wrong with adding your own flair.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
Yeah flair. Yeah, but it's also fun to find about
it sometimes I get it.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Yeah, Well what about the nutrition?
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Oh, it really depends on how you make it on
its own. The classic recipe isn't really that heavy, like
unless you really overdo it on the parmesan. Prepared dressings, however,
that are like bottled and sold to to restaurants or
to consumers tend to be pretty heavy on oils, which
are nutritionally dense, and also on salts, which we can overeat.
(08:51):
So like, watch your portion sizes depending either way. You know,
probably pair with a protein that isn't cheese to help
keep you going.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
I both agree with you, and I'm not happy that
I can't just eat more cheese.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
But yes, you are correct.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
I mean if you want to pair it with more
cheese again, I cannot stop you like that. I would
not and cannot, so I support your decisions.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Oh, thanks any time. We do have some numbers for you, Okay.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
According to you gov dot com, which collects data like this,
ninety eight percent of Americans have heard of Caesar salad,
including one hundred percent of baby boomers. It is furthermore
liked by seventy five percent of us and only actively
disliked by nine percent.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
Wow. Like Caesar salad, I know, right.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Caesar's are so ubiquitous that they were chosen for this
research that was published in twenty twenty three about the
sustainability options of salad packaging. They chose to focus on
Caesar because it was so ubiquitous and so like basic
four element kind of thing, like you've got the lettuce,
the dressing, the croutons, and the cheese, and they were like,
(10:06):
we can track this, that's trackable. They identified one hundred
and fifty one unique ways to package the ingredients for
a Caesar for consumer sale day, and just to very
basically sum up, those bagged salad kits and anything that
comes in a flexible bag really are actually less impactful
than any kind of plastic clamshell packaging. If you've ever
(10:26):
wondered about that, and I have, so, hey, yeah, choose
flexible bags. I guess we have some Guinness records for you.
The Guinness record for the most Caesar salads made in
an hour was achieved in twenty ten in Arizona. The
chef Bob Bloomer. Blummer made one hundred and eight salads
(10:47):
in that time period. He actually made one hundred and ten,
but two were disqualified, one because it was underweight and
one for having to be replaited. Oh okay, yeah, strict, Yeah,
you know, you know, you can't mess around.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
It's true, you can't trying to get a Caesar salad record.
You can't mess around.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
And then the Guinness record for the largest Caesar Salad
was achieved in two thousand and seven in Tijuana, which
is the salad's birthplace. Spoiler alert. One hundred and sixty
people helped make the salad and it weighed three point
two eight seven metric tons, which equals about seven two
(11:28):
hundred and forty six pounds.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
No, I can't fathom it. I can't. I can't. It's
too much salad, so much salad.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Who Okay, well, well it's been spoiled. But we will
go into the history.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Of the Caesar salad.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Oh yes we will, but first we are going to
take a quick break forward from our sponsors and we're back.
Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
So yes.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
A lot of people think that the name Caesar salad
comes from Julius Caesar.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
I believe I've thought that at one point in my life.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Oh sure, probably, yeah, yeah, like Anchobi Caesar.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
It matches, it does, right, easy peasy. But this is
not true. It comes from Caesar Cardini. Caesar Cardini who
was born in Italy in eighteen ninety six. Information about
his early life is scarce, but sometime in the nineteen
twenties he immigrated to North America, a nineteen nineteen ad
(12:42):
about the grand opening of a joint venture restaurant had
his name attached to it.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
This is like literally slothing clues together.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Yeah, yeah, and he was one of the two of
this venture, which indicates that he was in northern California
at the time where the restaurant was located, though the
ad also mentioned that he had worked in San Francisco previously.
But okay, yes, Within the next few years he made
his way to San Diego, where he opened a French restaurant,
(13:11):
and then, when prohibition was enacted in the US in
nineteen twenty, Cardini opened a restaurant in Tijuana, Mexico, where
he could serve alcohol. Yes, the location was purposely chosen too,
because it was close enough for well off Southern Californians
to get to it if they wanted to have something
to drink or are other things. The Los Angeles Times
(13:33):
once named Tijuana the city that was Vegas before Vegas.
But it was a place where Californians and celebrities went
to escape and indulge and drink and gamble. And it
was here the Caesar salad was born.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
So the legend goes yes, yes, and quite a legend.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
It is.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
According to Cardini's daughter Rosa, the salad was invented on
July fourth, nineteen twenty four. It goes that the restaurant
was slammed with Americans, and thus the kitchen was low
on several ingredients. Cardini gathered what he had lettuce stocks, eggs, croutons,
Parmisan cheese, olive oil, and wished to sure sauce and
(14:15):
came up with a dish. It was originally intended as
a finger food that was made tableside to add flair
and I'm sure make it seem fancier that also feels
like a very steakhouse thing. Oh yeah, and people fell
in love with it. I mean, it is a good
marketing technique. You see it, You're like, oh, I want that.
It's right over there.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Oh yeah, yeah, they're making it right there. It looks
so fancy. I want to taste that, sure, yeah, yeah yeah.
So the dressing would be made table side and then
served either over like the tips of the leaves and
you would grab the stem or is like a kind
of dipping situation. I think more that first thing.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
But yeah, anyway, yes, yes, And also, of course there
are alternate versions of this tail. One is that it
it wasn't Caesar who came up with any of this,
but his brother, Alessandro Alex Cardini. Alex was a fighter
pilot during World War One, but came to help out
(15:10):
with his brother's Tijuana restaurant after that, and he ended
up connecting with a group of American airmen who came
in one night as a fellow pilot. He wanted them
to have a good time and enjoy the restaurant, so
he pulled together a finger food dish based on what
he could find in the kitchen, pretty much what we
described listed earlier, but with the addition of anchovies.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Hm.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Yes, and he called his creation. So the story goes
aviators salad, and the salad was popular, and when Alex
left to open his own restaurant, Caesar didn't wait to
give it his own name.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
Oh yes, that's what Alex says.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Yet another theory suggests it was an employee at Caesar's
restaurant named Livio Santini, who was also Italian immigrants, and
he came up with the recipe based on something his
mom used to make. There's also two other stories that
don't really get talked about much, but I was like,
wait a minute, Oh, a mobster and a former business
(16:14):
partner might have also been behind the separately, not together
as char as I know.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Yeah, oh, you never know.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
But whoever did it, it was a very, very popular dish,
and it gained such popularity that it became a tourist
draw on its own. Julia Child wrote about her nineteen
twenties visit to the restaurant and ordering the salad. Quote
Caesar himself rolled the big cart up to the table,
tossed the remain in a great wooden bowl. And I
(16:44):
wish I could say I remembered his every move, but
I don't. It was a sensation of a salad from
coast to coast, and there were even rumblings of its
success in Europe. How could a mere salad cause such emotion?
H It was such a popular dish and spread to
so many restaurants that Caesar's daughter copyrighted the recipe in
nineteen forty eight. Until her death, she was adamant the
(17:08):
true recipe didn't include anchovies.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Yeah, and Julia backed her up. Although it should like
take it with a grain of salt, like like Julia
was I think in her sixties when she was writing
about this experience that she had when she was twelve.
So yes, it's so that's a situation, not saying she
didn't remember clearly, I don't know.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Yeah, I'm pretty sure.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
She also talked a lot about the like taking the
moment with the salad, like when you're mixing it, like
feel the spoons against the bowl, like having it like
an experience, you know, very Julia yeaes sweet because that
was part of it. It was like kind of this
experiential thing that was tied up with it was got
made table side or Yeah. When the family relocated to
(17:52):
Los Angeles, one of the ingredients switched out, which was
fresh lime juice for fresh lemon juice, which perhaps because
lemons were more available, or perhaps was just a language
mix up.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Yeah, because lemon in Spanish sounds like lemon English.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Yes. Also of note, the oldest detailed recounting of the
salad from Caesar didn't pop up until nineteen fifty two,
several decades after it was first served, so once again,
it could be some things not remembered or mixed up.
It included the generally agreed upon, the generally agreed upon ingredients,
(18:31):
no anchovies, but pear, vinegar, and mustard, which both Alex
and Rosa later went on to say no.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Mustard, definitely, no mustard.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Yes, and Paris's International Society of Epicure announced in nineteen
fifty three that the caesar salad was the greatest recipe
to come out of the Americas in fifty years, which
is so funny to be because a lot of people,
I do think, believe it comes from Europe. Sure, yeah,
and it does have like European influences for sure, but
(19:03):
it's just kind of that circular.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Also, like I feel like that's a really harsh disc America.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
Oh, come on, like part of pardon the caesar salad
is good, but also hold up.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
May I introduce you to a really good hamburger?
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Right?
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Like? No, maybe some barbecue. Have you heard of barbecue France?
Maybe they hadn't. Anyway. Meanwhile, a Caesar's restaurant in Tijuana
changed hands and over the course of the next few
decades became kind of unsuccessful and sort of divy, and
by two thousand and nine they closed down. But a
(19:45):
year later, local chef Javier Pasencia, I think I'm saying
that right, Yeah, his family restored its vibe and reopened
it and brought back the table side caesar salad, so
you can, as far as I'm aware, you can go
there to this day and go get one.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
Oh, listeners, please, if you have done it, please let
us know.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Oh my goodness, yes, yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
I definitely want a caesar salad in my future.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
I'm like planning where I'm going to get one.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
Ooh nice.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Yes, okay, Well that's what we have to say about
the caesar salad for now.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
It is.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
We do have some listener mill for you though, and
we are going to get into that as soon as
we get back from a quick break forward from our sponsors.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
And we're back. Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you, and
we're back with mixed. Yes, we've got some fun ones today.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
Okay, Rose wrote, I forgot to tell you a quick
Pokemon related story a few years back when Pokemon Go
and a limited time when you could catch special regional
only Pokemon outside their region. Some very clever person or
algorithm at Nintendo US division is based on Seattle put
the far fetched Pokemon at kimil Naki. The first morning
(21:24):
of the event, Chef Soma arrived to kim on Naki
to find tens of people hanging out in front of
her shop. By the second or third day, let's just
say she was not amused anymore.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
Oh no, I love it.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
You know we love a good Pokemon Fact. Super producer
Andrew is Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Especially Yeah, that's right because its name is kimil Neeggi
in Japanese.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
Yes, there you go.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Yes, this brought back the fond memory for me of
my one time when I was coming home in a
lift in our friend Chandler, who was playing Pokemon Go.
I'll ask the driver to stop. He was like, it's
a jim and the driver, bless him, was like, I
don't see a gym anywhere, and I was like this
Pokemon Go.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
And then because it's invisible, it's an invisible gym, it's
a poke Jym.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
We had the most fun. I'm trying to explain it
to him though. It was such a beautiful moment.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Well as long as he was game, that's really so lovely.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
He was ya he yah.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Okay, this next one has a bunch of Japanese in it,
and I'm gonna do my heck and very best. All right,
so here we go. He j wrote, I'm the guy
who made hoshigaki a dried per simmons by asking the
locals in my neighborhood in rural Japan. Since I last
sent you guys an email, I've moved to Osaka, which
you may have heard likes to call itself Japan's Kitchen.
(22:51):
I also have a couple of unfinished emails to you guys,
which I'll try to summarize here. Okay oshagaki and kim chi.
I tried making the hoshigaki again, but I wasn't able
to replicate it as well as I did the first time.
It could be the quality of the percimon I got
or the equality of the urban air is less conducive
for making hoshigaki. I had intended to give them away
(23:12):
as Christmas slash New Year's gifts, but they were not
very presentable. So as to avoid wasting perfectly good food,
I mixed them in as a sweet component of the
kimchi I was making from scratch. They added a nice
distinct flavor and a nice contrast to the heat of
the kimchi mangos. There are kinds of food that we
really like that's our go to thing to order. For example,
(23:34):
I really like a chicken ka aga, and it'll probably
hit the spot wherever I order it. However, there is
usually a couple things that we love so much that
we get really picky about it, and yet we still
order it despite knowing that it'll probably disappoint. That for
me is the mango. Even when I was a kid,
whenever we'd travel abroad, I'd always get a mango smoothie
(23:56):
or an ice cream, only to declare that it's not
as good as the mangoes from the Philippines. You're so right, okay.
I once said I could never move to a country
with bad mangoes. Well, now I live in Japan, a
country not known for mangoes. However, in Japan, Miyazaki Prefecture
is known for its mangoes, and last week we went
(24:17):
to a fruit parlor for a special Miyazaki mango par
fae that they were only serving for eight days this year.
It was twenty five hundred yen, which is like eighteen
bucks USD at the current exchange rate, but it certainly
feels like twenty five USD to those who live in Japan.
It was a work of art. The mangoes were ripe
(24:38):
and juicy. My partner Igi got a peach parfe made
of Dae Toryu peach literally President Peach. My verdict, if
you like mangoes, the mango parfe gets an A. However,
if you really love mangoes like I do, it's a B.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
We also both.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Agreed that the peach parfe was better. Anyway, I'm really
writing about soba. I understand that things are limited, but
Japan is more than just Tokyo and Kyoto. The three
main varieties of soba aren't even from Kyoto and Tokyo.
Japan has the Nihon Sandai soba, the Big three three
(25:18):
great sobas okay Uncle soba from the Lae Prefecture, Toga
kushi soba from the Lagano Prefecture, and Izumo soba from
the Shamanei Prefecture. No one is really sure who designated
these three as the big three of all soba varieties,
but I am predisposed to believing this list. Okay so
here we go is Zumo soba Iszumo Soba is a
(25:41):
cold soba like zaru, but in a round lacquerware called adigo.
Its noodles are nuttier than other soba varieties because the
husk is milled with the rest of the buckwheat. The
way you eat is zumo soba is different from other regions.
The thing they're served in are stacked one on top
of the other, usually three. Your toppings naughty grated radish
(26:02):
and or green onions, and pour the soba suu on
top of your first dish. After you finish the noodles,
you pour the remaining sueu and toppings into the next
bowl and add more toppings or sueo if you want. Finally,
as they do in proper soba restaurants all over Japan,
they will offer you some soba u the soba water.
(26:22):
You mix it with a bit of the suu to
taste and drink this warm soba u to get all
the possible nutrients out of the soba. As a bonus.
Here's what I had as a snack at Universal Studios
Japan today, green shell calzone with yuki soba and cheese.
It is a cow zone in the shape of a
green shell of a koopa from Super Mario, but the
(26:44):
filling is yuki soba and cheese. It's a playful take
on the yakisoba pond. Yaki soba served in bread that
looks like a hot dog bun. I guess it's the
cheese that really makes it more cowzone like. It was
a unique snack. I was not quite sure of what
to make of the texture of the bread, but I
enjoyed the yuki soba quite a bit, and stretchy cheese
(27:05):
is always fun to eat. It's a feeling snack that
hits the spot, especially when the other restaurants are already full.
As I mentioned before, I hope you too will be
able to visit the side of the World sooner rather
than later.
Speaker 3 (27:19):
Oh us too, Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
I mean oh yeah, I mean yeah. This little pond,
this little bun of turtleshell shape is very cute. Thank
you for sending photographs. That's amazing.
Speaker 3 (27:33):
This is super cute.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
It is not a combination I would have thought of,
but I bet it's pretty tasty.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
I mean right, I mean, put cheese in it, right.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
Put cheese it. Yeah. Oh my gosh, so cute.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Noodles and bread.
Speaker 3 (27:48):
I'm down exactly, exactly.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
Yeah. I'm making my way to Universal soonish and I'm
going to see I don't think the Super Mario World
is open there, but I don't know that they.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
Have any food. But if they do, oh okay, all right,
I will report back.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
Oh fun, I didn't even know that was occurring, but
that's exciting.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
Yeah, I didn't know it's part of universal, but I
guess it is.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
Thank you for all of this, Oh my goodness, and
I hope that I didn't mispronounce anything too too terribly.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
No, I think you did great. I don't ye, but
I feel like thanks, yeah, and yeah, thanks for ready.
A lot of people have written in about Soba. I'm
very excited because I still have my noodles. I haven't
cooked them yet, but yeah, this was very helpful.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Oh yeah, yeah, that was a super brief rundown of
Soba that we did in that episode. Like there's so
many varieties and I would and I got very overwhelmed,
and I was just like, these are the ways that
it can be. Here we go. So all of these
details are really beautiful and are making me hungry for
things that I've never had before.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
Yes, agreed. And also I think you're spot on about
your thoughts about mango, where there's just some foods where
you're like, I'm going to get it, but it won't
be as good as a yes, but.
Speaker 3 (29:01):
You love it so much. You have to get it. Yeah, yes, yes,
I do too. Well.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
Thank you so much to both of these listeners for
writing in. If you would like to write to us,
you can or emails hello at savorpod dot com.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
We are also on social media. You can find us
on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at saver pod and we
do hope to hear from you. Savor is production of iHeartRadio.
For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, you can visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows. Thanks as always to our superproducers Dylan
Fagan and Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening, and
(29:35):
we hope that lots more good things are coming your
way
Savor News
Hosts And Creators
Anney Reese
Lauren Vogelbaum
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!