Caesar Salad, the authentic way... - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: BrianHG
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2024, 11:15:52 pm
content: 20 years ago, one of my local favorite fine dining restaurants closed. They used to have the waiter make the Caesar salad at the table in a wooden bowl just like you see in this video. It was the best.I always loved it with extra Anchovies ans extra Parmesan cheese.

author: Smokey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 08, 2024, 03:05:14 am
content: You mean it didn't always just come from a bag at Trader Joes?That's cool. I didn't know the history. Thanks.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 08, 2024, 03:08:29 am
content: how do you do it with out fish.Its interesting because it seems like one of the true roman recpies left, that is, they use garum like substance.True hallmark of civilization is : how disgusting is your ketchup like substance?They used fish in the ancient times. It moved towards mushroom sauce in old times (a little funky) to tomato paste, probobly purchased in giant cubes, in modern times.

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 08, 2024, 09:34:01 am
content: Quote from: coppercone2 on August 08, 2024, 03:08:29 amI surveyed various bottles of Caesar dressing at Walmart and Meijers. It seems Worcestershire sauce is sometimes substituted for anchovies. For a tangy, quick "mock" dressing, I use Lea & Perrins brand and Hidden Valley Ranch dressing and Bordens whole milk buttermilk. The ranch dressing provides the oil, emulsifiers, garlic,salt,pepper, and other stuff, buttermilk gives the cheese and reduces viscosity, and Lea & Perrins gives a little fermented fishy tang.Ratios by volume:Hidden Valley: 3 (about 9 oz)Buttermilk: 1 (3 oz)Lea & Perrins: 1-1/2 to 2 tablespoonsThe family likes it. I also have a recipe for "real" Caesar's, but I need to write it out neatly. I found that white anchovies or specific brands (e.g., Agostino Recca ) are far better than the terrible fishy versions found commonly on store shelves in the US. The Agostino have more of a meaty flavor, sort of like swordfish vs. salmon. Another detail I discovered is that Berios Extra Virgin olive oil (green can) gets bitter and is not as good as the "traditional" (gold can) for the dressing. Will post actual recipe later. It's quite simple.EDIT:@BrianHGWe used to go to the Stuft Shirt Restaurant in Pasadena, California (early 1960's). It also had waiters make the dressing by the table, and it was quite good. Turns out, you can still find the name on Google:https://pcad.lib.washington.edu/building/5057/My recipe is based mostly on memory from that.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 08, 2024, 10:32:17 am
content: Quote from: coppercone2 on August 08, 2024, 03:08:29 amWell garum was Roman (the modern descendant beingcolatura di alici), but Caesar dressing was invented in 1924 in Tijuana, Mexico.Other than allergies, why would you want to make it without the anchovies? They provide delightful umami to it.Quote from: jpanhalt on August 08, 2024, 09:34:01 amIn the original recipe, Worcestershire sauce was used, and no anchovies. (As an anchovy lover, though, I am glad they’re now a common ingredient.) Worcestershire sauce itself contains anchovies too, but not as a dominant ingredient.BTW, a high quality Vietnamese or Thai fish sauce is actually a great way to add anchovy flavor to Italian foods without having to commit to opening a whole can of anchovies. (I use the Squid Brand premium sauce, the one with the gold label.)

author: armandine2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 08, 2024, 11:46:08 am
content: How about a Waldorf the inauthentic way?

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 08, 2024, 12:18:15 pm
content: Here's my recipe based on memory from the restaurant I mentioned earlier.

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 09, 2024, 12:17:12 am
content: Far from traditional, but a different take on a chicken Caesar:

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 09, 2024, 03:31:41 am
content: I think the best unami for a salad is bulgarian feta,, then you can go really light for the dressing even pure vinegar or lemon works, or at least you can go down on oil content, i.e. 50% instead of 30% vinegar, or even more.it is not like the normal feta cheeseA high vinegar dressing IMO is rather harsh for a traditional parmasan cheese (especially grated coarse), but with a creamy malleable feta the game is changed to require much less oilsI think the ceasar salad is very specific in making parmasan cheese, basically chopped, taste good cold and probobly essential for making a salad eddible with Reggianito, which is like parmasan cheese jerky.. that one is like a reagent not a cheeseParmasan, cold, has to be basically drenched in oil to be edible (usually oily pizza or spaghetti), otherwise it basically requires roasting. I find it grated to be disappointing in salads if you don't really up the oil content of the dressing.It seems like its a bit of a incomplete cheese product. Degreased cheese. If its cooked though that is a unique situation where it ends up being delicious for a different reason on things like roasted vegetables (with almost no oil on them). Then it kinda starts getting a reputation for being a component in health foods, since it basically turns into a kinda spice, if salt is used sparingly.I kind of wonder now about a super ceasar salad, where the cheese is slightly burned, cooled, and re-ground.

author: 5U4GB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 09, 2024, 02:41:31 pm
content: Quote from: Halcyon on August 09, 2024, 12:17:12 amAnd here's the English version:

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2025, 04:18:15 am
content: finally found some vegeterian caesar that does something with soy or w/e to get rid of anchovies. pretty good for a substitute.Grating the parmasan is the hard part, the last one I got is a fucking brick. I am actually debating working on it with a meat hammer, it might just disintegrate lol

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2025, 06:03:38 am
content: Hand grating is for restaurants and show. Use a Kitchenaid of similar. I get mine grated fresh at Ferrara's Market on the East side of Cleveland. The "old man" died a few years, and it's now been passed to a relative. They tightly pack it in containers that can be frozen, and it will store in a deep freezer a long time.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2025, 06:42:54 am
content: Does it bother anyone else seeing salt or pepper used when the amount used is so small that it will make zero noticeable difference to the food.I mean, it's not exactly good for you, so if you don't add enough to change the taste then why add any at all. You're getting the bad without any good.Adding it only for 'show' is silly.Also kinda stupid in that video that they didnt use a rubber spatula to get all the sauce from the sides of the bowl to the center so it gets on the lettuce instead of wasted in the bowl.Thought it would be fine if they were making more Caesar salads in the same bowl. However it looks to me like they make that in front of the table for the person ordering, and that will start with a clean bowl i'm sure.Looking at those perfectly shaped lettuce leaves does make me wonder what happened to the rest of the head of lettuce with non ideal shaped leaves.

author: 5U4GB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2025, 06:58:20 am
content: Did I make anyone cry?

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2025, 07:15:50 am
content: I think if you eat alot of pepper you won't notice but if you don't a very small amount will be fine. Some people are extremely perceptive of pepper. Particularly if they don't eat ridiculously spicy things.

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2025, 10:06:20 am
content: Quote from: Psi on May 26, 2025, 06:42:54 amSalt is required for human life.QuoteI always toss my salad. Dressing left on the sides of whatever the dressing is prepared or salad tossed in is irrelevant. I can't stand the new generation of silicone spatulas, spoons, and forks made not to scratch non-stick cookware.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2025, 11:50:10 am
content: Quote from: jpanhalt on May 26, 2025, 10:06:20 amyeah but we all get enough of it without needing to add more to anythingQuote from: jpanhalt on May 26, 2025, 10:06:20 amThe primary reason you use a silicone spatula is not to protect non-stick cookware. They exist because, unlike plastic or wood spatulas, they actually work and remove every last piece of food in one pass leaving the bowel clean and dry behind them. They really are magical. Like good quality solder wick

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 26, 2025, 12:02:20 pm
content: Quote from: jpanhalt on May 26, 2025, 10:06:20 amMost people don't need additional salt in their diet. I use salt in cooking, but almost never add it to prepared food, and I'm probably still exceeding the daily recommended limit without even trying.Salt is abundant most of the food we consume or cook with. Additional salt is typically used as a flavour enhancer, not because it's needed as a supplement. A mere 5 grams is the upper daily limit for adults. The body itself only needs about 1 to 2 grams of salt (460 to 920mg of sodium) from all sources of food to function normally. To put this into context, 2 slices of normal grainy bread from the supermarket contains about 300mg of sodium. A single Quarter Pounder from (an Australian) McDonalds contains 1110mg of sodium.

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2025, 12:32:09 pm
content: A lecture on the necessity of salt is not needed. The point I was responding to was, "I mean, it's not exactly good for you." It is necessary for life. Have you ever tried a low-salt diet of about 2g /day? I haven't but, but those who have say it's horrible. I agree, most people don't need additional salt and some really over do it. Prepared foods (e.g., frozen meals and restaurants) have way too much salt for my taste.Another ingredient that is often mentioned in recipes is sugar. I rarely add any.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2025, 07:51:19 pm
content: I think it helps if you are sick with infection for the throat and for puncture wounds or cuts (makes more salt under the skin to fight bacteria)kind of nasty side effect from it though as far as 'medication' use goes. Gurgling salt water seems to help the throat without consuming too muchthere is a layer under your skin that has alot of salt to fight bacteria that try to get in there. But I think it leads to high blood pressure at elevated levels if you continously consume elevated amounts. Luckily its not addictive like sugar might be, if you stop salt for a while and get a normal salt level then you will just find the excess salt nasty. Sugar is more directly useful for your body.I do wonder though if occasionally having a high sugar meal can help some other part of your body get a rest that normally processes carbohydrates and stuff. You do wonder if there is some kind of 'fouling' that develops inside of the cells and organs from say constantly processing healthy whole grain complex carbs for extended periods of time...Essentially there must be some system that does nothing when you get calories from sugar because it absorbs and processes so easy. I know there are molecular assistants in the body for most processes involved with like... cleaning relevant proteins, channels, organelles, dna repairs, etc. Akin to shutting down the factory so you can sweep. Perhaps its why many people say eating late night meals is not great for you.. Like a chip extractor on a CNC machine. It works pretty good but occasionally you gotta turn the thing off and actually clean it because it gets all sorts of nasty in there. Sleep and fasting seem like two clear options, but I wonder if sugar can occasionally help with that too. And you also rest the glands that make the enzymes and stomach things for processing complex carbs

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2025, 08:22:25 pm
content: When you are sick, it's important to stay well hydrated. I doubt it has anything to do with salt intolerance of some bacteria. Do you have any data to support your theories?

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2025, 09:33:17 pm
content: for skin you can definitely find it for throat emperical/folk knowledge from gurgling saltthere is some lymph-related layer in the skin that transports salt and increases wound healing because it is hostile to bacteriai am not gonna be researching this on memorial dayhttps://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/ATVBAHA.118.311149you can absorb it through the skin somewhat too I believe (healing properties of dead sea)https://www.science.org/content/article/does-high-salt-diet-combat-infectionsI don't think people like this one very much because salt is a good boogyman

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2025, 09:47:47 pm
content: As typical, your comments seem outlandish and/or imprecise.I asked specifically for a link to support the following statement of yours, "I think it helps if you are sick with infection for the throat and for puncture wounds or cuts (makes more salt under the skin to fight bacteria)" that a high salt diet helps. I am not going to waste my time searching for something you have hidden in your drawers.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2025, 09:11:43 am
content: you could just try gurgling some salty water if you get a sore throat and see if it helps you

author: 5U4GB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 28, 2025, 01:22:02 am
content: Quote from: coppercone2 on May 27, 2025, 09:11:43 amFor this you can also use Betadine (more universally known as povidone-iodine), a dilute iodine solution specifically made for skin disinfection and as a throat gargle. The idea is to use it if you think you're at risk rather than when you're already infected.I would not recommend it as a condiment for Caesar Salad.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 28, 2025, 02:17:48 pm
content: Quote from: Psi on May 26, 2025, 06:42:54 amWell, pepper is not bad for you (unless you have diverticulitis, an allergy, etc), and the hazards of salt have likely been quite overstated. According to my dad, who is a doctor with a lot of interest in nutrition (and from whom I get “unfiltered” medical advice without the CYA aspect one often gets), and confirmed by numerous other doctors I’ve asked, as long as one does not havesalt-sensitivehypertension or another disorder that explicitly requires a low-salt diet, then excess salt simply doesn’t matter, provided you drink sufficient liquids to expel the excess salt.Furthermore, there is some evidence that the long-standing ~2300mg daily sodium (~5-6g salt) intake recommendation may actually betoo lowfor a lot of people. It seems that it can aggravate several conditions, including heart disease, ironically.And of course if one is doing heavy exercise that causes lots of sweating, one can need significantly more salt.Quote from: Psi on May 26, 2025, 06:42:54 amUsed for other types of salads? As garnish for other dishes?Of course, nowadays restaurants can likely buy prepacked whole leaves sold specifically for that purpose.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 28, 2025, 02:24:07 pm
content: Quote from: coppercone2 on May 27, 2025, 09:11:43 am*gargling. “Gurgling” is the sound. “Gargling” is the thing you do with liquid in your throat.The main purpose of the salt when gargling a sore throat is to prevent it from burning like hell. As someone who used to get strep throat multiple times a year, before finally getting my tonsils out (which by then was a significant operation due to their size), and thus has ample experience with extremely raw oral tissues, you absolutely need the salt to stop it from hurting.Pure tap water on raw oral wounds simply hurts like a bastard.Of course, excessively salty water hurts, too. Your target salinity should be the saltiness of tears, not seawater.What also works really well is to gargle with a mix of mouthwash and saline.

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 28, 2025, 02:59:50 pm
content: @tookiSince your dad was a physician, I assume your "strep throats" were properly treated. For others, at least in the US, strep throat is often used synonymously for sore throat. The vast majority of sore throats are due to viruses, not streptococci. Without going deeply into how to distinguish one from the other clinically, strep throats usually do not have a runny nose, but viral sore throats do. If you aren't reasonably sure, there are rapid diagnostic methods today. See a healthcare worker. My mother's older sister (circa 1928) died from a nonsuppurative complication of strep throat.* Today, such deaths are (or should be) quite uncommon.As for salt intake, I generally agree with what you were told. Good kidney function generally handles it.*Suppurative means pus. Nonsuppurative means not related to acute formation of pus, but rather occurring after the acute infection, such as rheumatic fever. Not all Group A streptococci cause rheumatic fever, but you can't be sure which one you have, so all are treated the same.

author: jh15
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 28, 2025, 07:01:29 pm
content: " what happened to the rest of the head of lettuce with non ideal shaped leaves."What happens to the rest of the frog when you order frog's legs? Maybe give it a little wheeled cart under its rear?

author: Kjelt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 28, 2025, 07:57:33 pm
content: Quote from: coppercone2 on August 09, 2024, 03:31:41 amFeta is a protected name for the sheep/goatmilk based cheese from greece.Any other same tasting cheese is goat/sheep chease but not feta.Same as you can not call any other sparkling white wine which is not made in the champagne area, champagne.If you refer to the bulgarian equivalent I think it is called sirene.

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 28, 2025, 08:52:54 pm
content: Did you notice his flag? In the US, feta is not a protected name. It's just an EU thing.

author: Kjelt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 29, 2025, 05:01:31 am
content: Quote from: jpanhalt on May 28, 2025, 08:52:54 pmFirst, Bulgaria is an EU country so their export products and names have to comply with EU rules.Second when countries do not honor other countries laws then they should also stop complaining that other countries don't obey theirs. For instance the chinese using patents without license. That is just a western thing

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 29, 2025, 05:52:06 am
content: Quote from: jpanhalt on May 26, 2025, 12:32:09 pmIt wasn't a "lecture" and it wasn't necessarily directed at you. The fact is, most people consume too much salt and don't realise how little the body actually needs. If you don't like the information, you're completely free to ignore it, but some people might find it helpful.

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 29, 2025, 05:54:15 am
content: Quote from: Kjelt on May 28, 2025, 07:57:33 pmIn Australia, feta using milk other than from Greece is labelled as "fetta". Same cheese, it's just the milk is usually locally produced.

author: Kjelt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 29, 2025, 06:31:54 am
content: Quote from: Halcyon on May 29, 2025, 05:54:15 amYes the Danish went even so far to sell cheese from cowmilk as feta in the past, the reason Greece complained to the EU since it is their heritage.Same for our "Gouda" cheese or the french "Roquefort" cheese they want to make clear what is the real thing and what the copycats.

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 29, 2025, 08:49:58 am
content: Quote from: Kjelt on May 29, 2025, 05:01:31 amWhen sold in the US it can be called feta by the seller as that is generic here. Moreover, coppercone can call it feta if he wants.QuoteI hope you understand that the EU does not automatically respect American trademarks/protected names. If an American company wants its trademark to be protected in the EU, it has to apply separately. Otherwise, there is no protection. Thus, since the EU doesn't respect American names, it is only fitting that America doesn't respect its names. Our term for that is, "what goes around comes around."

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 29, 2025, 09:07:24 am
content: Quote from: jpanhalt on May 28, 2025, 02:59:50 pmYes, definitely! I always had them looked at by a professional and treated after proper diagnosis (culture back in the day, later the quick strep tests), usually with co-amoxicillin.Since my parents divorced and we then moved to a different country, I didn’t have my dad around to physically look at things all the time, but I could always call for advice. And having him around growing up did give me a bit more medical background than the average joe, so I do feel emboldened to ask doctors for more detail, and not dumb things down. (Here in Switzerland, where the lay terminology for anatomy, medical conditions, etc. are not the scientific terminology that we commonly use in everyday English, medical professionals are often surprised when I simply ask something using the scientific terms that I’m more familiar with!)I started getting strep in my early 20s, and the time I hit 30 I was getting it probably 3 times per year. The village GP where I was living at the time is an idiot, and in the 4 years I lived there, I asked him several times once “should I consider getting my tonsils out?”, which he always said “no, no, that’s not necessary” and thus did not refer me to an ENT doc. (And yes, my dad also thought that removal might make sense, but to have a doc look at them in person.) When I moved to the city and got a new GP and went for strep the first time, I asked the same thing, and he said “I would have taken them out years ago”, and we got the ball rolling on that. Since I got my tonsils out, I don’t think I’ve gotten strep again. Or if I did, it was so long ago, that I’ve forgotten. As the ENT surgeon later explained, with repeated strep infections, the tonsils get progressively more scarred. Beyond merely compromising their infection-fighting function, this results in the tonsils actually becoming reservoirs and incubators for bacteria — including strep!By the time I got them removed at age ~34, each tonsil was the size of a small walnut. (And of course they’d swell much bigger when sick, to the point swallowing was difficult.) The ENT surgeon (who is one of the most renowned ones in Switzerland) said they were the largest non-cancerous tonsils he’d ever removed. And that size made the removal much more difficult, because the resulting wounds are that much larger. Here in Switzerland (well, pretty much everywhere except USA), tonsillectomy in adults is an inpatient procedure, with 2 nights scheduled post-op in case of bleeding. And I was the 1 in 1000 that proved why that second night is recommended: during the second night, I started getting serious bleeding, and actually had to be operated on a second time to get that under control. (Followed by another 2 nights of observation.)Moral of the story, kids: if you’re getting strep with any kind of regularity, get the tonsils out sooner rather than later, because the larger they are, the harder the surgery and subsequent recovery becomes.Quote from: jpanhalt on May 28, 2025, 02:59:50 pmWhile I don’t personally share the experience of Americans commonly using “strep” to mean any sore throat, I think that the confusion might be facilitated by the rushed clinicians who, with insurance often unwilling to cover adequate consultation, resort to prescribing antibiotics “just in case”, even without proof it’s a bacterial infection. (This was really common before the quick tests, since it would take several days for the results of a culture to come back.) The fact that taking time off work is much more difficult for Americans also likely is a factor, so clinicians try to help their patients not have to come back another day. (And of course there are also the whiny patients who insist on antibiotics even when uncalled for…)

author: 5U4GB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 29, 2025, 02:38:42 pm
content: Quote from: Kjelt on May 29, 2025, 06:31:54 amGouda here is a fairly generic term, in fact things like cumin, fenugreek, etc gouda, often specifically labelled as "Dutch gouda", are typically produced by artisanal... cheeseries... that proudly advertise the fact that they're made in a local monastery using bird's milk or something similar. Here's one great example from nearby,Quality authentic Dutch cheese made in New Zealand.

author: westfw
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2025, 08:25:43 am
content: QuoteWorcestershire sauce contains anchovies...I once found a surprisingly good recipe for a very easy Caesar Salad dressing:1 part your favorite "Italian dressing" (can be a low-fat variety)1 part egg-beaters or other pasteurized egg productSignificant amount of Worcestershire sauce. (1/3 part?) (Provides anchovy flavor.)The theory seemed to be that the "egg" part of the recipe was significant and important (and usually left out of bottled "Caesar Salad Dressings." And, like I said: surprisingly good. (no, not as good as restaurant tableside-made.)

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2025, 02:15:00 pm
content: Quote from: westfw on June 19, 2025, 08:25:43 amUmmm… before replying, did you even finish reading the paragraph you quoted those few words from?! Because here’s what actually I said (emphasis added):Quote from: tooki on August 08, 2024, 10:32:17 am

author: Marco
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 28, 2025, 12:48:52 am
content: Quote from: coppercone2 on May 26, 2025, 04:18:15 amDo you have a modern grater? (ie. microplane or clone.)

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 28, 2025, 01:59:55 am
content: I will put it this way this one I was tempted to use a die grinder onI think it was a bit dried outYou know actually I wonder if I threw the carbide die grinder wood burr into the ultrasonic if I can make myself a tub of powder from it. It is so hard that I have not been eating it because its too difficult to process.With a microplane its about as fast as hand filing metal

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 29, 2025, 06:16:21 am
content: Just here to respond to one thing, and that's the mentions of Bulgarian "feta" I read here:I've had that cheese, and the salads made with it, in Bulgaria. And it's one of the most delectable dishes I've had anywhere.It's used in what they call "Šop" (pronounced "shope", long O) salad, named after the region around Sofia.The salad is mainly cucumbers--some delicious variety--onions and tomatoes. Very simple.Garnished with the sheep cheese. (So not exactly the same as feta, which I believe is goat cheese. This is far richer.)It's divine.I used to seek out that cheese when I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area; found a Bulgarian/Balkan store in Oakland that sold it.But now I find it at my local Grocery Outlet, the el cheapo grocery chain, which has it every few months.BTW, I read somewhere online that this dish wasn't traditional but was created by the then-Communist government as a way of promoting healthy eating habits. Not sure if that's true or not, but it doesn't matter to me: I could eat that every day.

author: Kjelt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 29, 2025, 06:55:07 am
content: Same for the greek salad, we went to greece for two weeks touring the mainland. In that hot climate every lunch and dinner we started with it. Simpelest dressing, olive oil with some lemon juice.We grow our own vegetables in the Netherlands often in glass houses, cucumbers, tomatoes but they are watery compared to the dryer richer flavoured greek vegetables. Esp. the cucumbers are way tastier and dryer, if we cut dutch cucumbers for a salad we often remove the seeds inside since it will water down the dressing too much.