After all, the Caesar salad is Mexican.
The Caesar salad is a quiet staple of Tijuana’s culture, a recipe of our own, which appealed to the upper echelons of society during the Prohibition era. The story of its creation, the truth of which is commonly lost amongst the many stereotypes surrounding Tijuana, is one not just of class but establishment in Tijuana. The Caesar salad in Tijuana represents hope that a day’s work could eventually result in your own legacy. The talent behind it is recognized regardless of who it is coming from, be it a waiter, a street vendor or performer or a world recognized chef like Javier Plascencia, owner of the Hotel Caesar in Tijuana.
As Mexicans native to Tijuana, my family and my region’s recipe had come to be defined by the Cheesecake Factories and Olive Gardens hawking out gelatinous, vinegary messes to the begging masses without even a whimper of its Tijuana identity.