HAIL THE HAM CAESAR.

Because your body is crying out for a salad. With ham in it.

The Caesar salad turned 100 years old in 2024, but it’s still as fresh an idea today as it was when it was created by Alessandro Caesar Cardini of the Caesar’s Palace restaurant in Tijuana, Mexico, in 1924.

Cardini’s original recipe, documented by John F. Mariani in his Dictionary of American Food & Drink, calls for croutons, romaine (cos) lettuce and parmesan cheese in an emulsified dressing of lightly coddled eggs, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and ‘6 drops’ of Worcestershire sauce.

As a salad, the Caesar has always been more than the sum of its parts. It’s that unholy combination of crisp and crunchy with creamy and cheesy that does it every time.

Bacon is now a popular additive to the Caesar, but I happen to have a leg of ham in the fridge, so sliced ham it is – and boy, does that work.

Here it is undressed, so you can see the ham.

Here it is dressed for dinner.

The original egg yolk dressing feels too rich, and I’ve had enough mayo over the Christmas break. Would it work with good, thick natural Greek-style yoghurt? Yes, and it’s a knock-out – lighter and tangier, yet still creamy.

I like anchovies, so I throw them in as well as a little Worcestershire sauce. Dijon mustard gives some emulsion - and goes with the ham.

Soft-boiled eggs or poachies are often offered as well, but the sauce makes it rich enough. Although I did sneak a little avocado in there, as I had one that would not have lasted another day. Not that you can see it. Avocado always falls to the bottom.

And if you can’t find cos lettuce, use iceberg, cut into wedges and kept fridge-cold until serving.

And if you have stale sourdough lying around, do your own croutons - crush garlic in olive oil, brush onto craggy chunks of bread and bake until golden, then tear apart.

Beware: you will probably use only half the dressing for this, and will be Caesaring everything in sight for the next few days.

It’s pretty good with left-over roast chicken, or fresh prawns, or rare roast beef instead of ham -- and even better with no extras at all, as the salad it was originally intended to be. Funny that.

HAM CAESAR SALAD

• 400 g carved leg ham

• 4 Little Gem lettuces (baby cos) or 1 to 2 cos lettuces, rinsed

• Half avocado, peeled and chopped (optional)

• 2 tbsp grated parmesan (best done with a microplane)

For the garlicky croutons:

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 2 rough, chunky thick slices of stale sourdough

• 1 garlic clove, smashed

Caesar dressing:

• 150 g natural Greek-style yoghurt

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• half garlic clove, finely grated

• 3 anchovy fillets

• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard

• 1 tsp sugar

• 1 tbsp lemon juice

• 2 tbsp grated parmesan

• Sea salt and pepper

To make the garlic croutons, heat the oven to 160C.

Crush the garlic into the olive oil and brush over the sourdough on both sides.

Bake for 30 minutes, turning once or twice, until golden and crisp, then cool enough to rip the bread apart into bite-size croutons (discard any too-tough crusts).

To make the dressing, whiz the yoghurt, olive oil, garlic, anchovy fillets, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, sugar, lemon juice, parmesan, salt and pepper until smooth and creamy.

Cut the cos lettuces lengthways into quarters and arrange on a large plate with the sliced ham and avocado.

Tuck in the croutons and drizzle on a few spoonfuls of dressing.

Grate a cloud of parmesan over the top and serve. Serves 4.

Thanks for dropping by! And thanks for leaving any comments and suggestions; feel free. Special thanks to Terry for carving the ham. Thanks to Australian Pork and all our hard-working pork farmers (and the award-winning Sunshine Meats) for the endless joys of the Christmas ham.

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I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands and waters upon which I work, live, cook and play; the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. Thank you for sharing your culture, traditions, knowledge, spirit, art, music, humour and food traditions, allowing us all to experience a greater sense of belonging in this ancient land.