Ensalada César Yucateca

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Molcajete or heavy mortar and pestle
• •Salad spinner or clean cotton servilleta for drying lettuce
• •Heavy skillet for frying the codzitos
• •Wire rack for draining
• •Box grater with small holes for the queso de bola
• •Wide wooden salad bowl

Instructions

1. 1

   Wash and chill the romaine

   Separate the inner leaves of the romaine. Discard the dark outer leaves and save the pale yellow-green hearts. Wash them gently under cold water, dry them completely in a salad spinner or a clean cotton servilleta, and refrigerate them in a covered bowl for at least 30 minutes. Cold lettuce stays crisp under the dressing. Warm lettuce wilts on contact. This is not optional.

   If the lettuce is even slightly wet when you dress it, the emulsion breaks and slides off the leaves. Dry it like you mean it.
2. 2

   Roll the codzitos

   Heat the tortillas briefly on a comal, about 10 seconds per side, just until they are pliable. Stack them under a damp cotton cloth to keep them soft. Roll each tortilla tightly into a thin cigar, the diameter of a finger, and secure with a wooden toothpick. In Mérida these are codzitos, and they go where the croutons go in any other Caesar. A bowl of fried tortillas is not the same. Codzitos are the regional answer.

3. 3

   Fry the codzitos in lard

   Heat the manteca in a heavy skillet over medium until it shimmers, around 350 degrees. Fry the rolled tortillas in batches, turning with tongs, until they are deep golden and rigid, about 2 minutes per batch. Lard, not vegetable oil. La manteca es el sabor and the codzitos taste like the Yucatán because of it. Drain on a wire rack, remove the toothpicks while still warm, and let them cool until crisp.

4. 4

   Pound the dressing base

   In a molcajete or a heavy mortar, pound the garlic and the anchovy fillets with the half teaspoon of salt until they break down into a rough paste. The salt is the abrasive. The molcajete tears the cells open in a way a blender cannot. If you do not own one, mince the garlic and anchovy together on a board with the flat of your knife until you have a paste, but understand you are making a compromise.

5. 5

   Build the emulsion

   Scrape the garlic-anchovy paste into a wide bowl. Add the egg yolks, the mustard, the Worcestershire, and a generous crack of black pepper. Whisk hard until the yolks lighten and thicken. Begin drizzling the olive oil and neutral oil in a thin stream, whisking constantly, the way you would build a mayonnaise. When the dressing is thick and pale, whisk in the naranja agria juice. The sour orange does the work of lemon here. This is the Yucatán's citrus. Do not substitute lemon. Do not substitute regular lime. If you cannot find naranja agria, mix two parts sweet orange juice with one part lime, but say out loud that you are compromising.

6. 6

   Grate the queso de bola

   Peel the red wax from the queso de bola. Grate half of the cheese on the small holes of a box grater into the dressing. Whisk it in. The Edam-style cheese, brought by Dutch traders through Sisal and Progreso, is the cheese of Yucatán. Parmesan is the Tijuana original. Queso de bola is what Mérida cooks reached for, and the salt and bite are right for this dressing. Taste for salt. Adjust.

7. 7

   Dress and compose

   Tear the chilled romaine hearts into large pieces, generous enough to hold the dressing on the spoon. Drop them into a wide bowl. Pour about three quarters of the dressing over them and toss gently with your hands until every leaf is coated. Add half the codzitos and toss once more. Pile onto a platter or individual plates. Scatter the remaining codzitos on top, grate the rest of the queso de bola over the salad in coarse curls, and finish with a few thin slices of habanero if your guests can handle it. Set lima agria halves on the table for anyone who wants more brightness. Serve immediately. Así se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Naranja agria is the heart of this salad. Look for it in Latin markets, particularly those serving Caribbean and Yucatecan communities. If you absolutely cannot find it, mix two parts fresh sweet orange juice with one part fresh lime juice and one teaspoon of grapefruit juice. It is a compromise, not an upgrade. No me vengas con atajos unless you have to.
• •Queso de bola is sold in the red wax ball at any Yucatecan-leaning grocer and at most well-stocked Latin markets. Mexican-made Edam is closer to the original than European Edam because the peninsula's version has been aged in a warmer climate for over a century and developed its own profile. If you can only find European Edam, that works. Parmesan does not.
• •Day-old tortillas roll into codzitos better than fresh ones. Fresh tortillas tear at the bend. If yours are too fresh, warm them on the comal and let them sit out for an hour before rolling. Pregúntale a las señoras del mercado, they will tell you the same thing.
• •Raw egg yolks make a real Caesar dressing. If you are serving someone immunocompromised, pregnant, or very young, use pasteurized yolks. Otherwise use the freshest eggs you can find and trust your sourcing.

Advance Preparation

• •The codzitos can be fried up to 6 hours ahead and kept at room temperature on a wire rack, uncovered, so they stay crisp. Do not refrigerate them, the moisture will soften them.
• •The dressing can be made up to 4 hours ahead and refrigerated. Whisk it again before dressing the salad and taste for salt and acid, the naranja agria flattens slightly as it sits.
• •The romaine can be washed, dried, and refrigerated wrapped in cotton up to one day ahead. Tear it only at the moment you toss the salad.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 275g)