The Popular Salad Andrew Zimmern Will Never Order From A Restaurant

There's no doubt about it, Andrew Zimmern is the ultimate omnivore. While Zimmerman's known for eating unusual types of protein including grubs, moose nose, and horse's, er, patootie, he also includes plenty of produce in his diet, as well. In fact, one of his all-time favorite dishes is a Vietnamese-style salad made with seafood, and he's also published recipes for a protein-packed yet plant-based lentil salad as well as cucumber and potato salads.

From this evidence, we can clearly see that Zimmern is no foe of what hardcore carnivores disparagingly refer to as "rabbit food." Still, when Yahoo! Life asked him what dish he would never order from a restaurant, Zimmern came up with a well-known salad that appears on nearly every steakhouse menu. What could this celeb chef possibly have against Caesar salad? Surely the man who ate fermented shark meat can't be afraid of a few little anchovies? As it turns out, the anchovies aren't the problem at all.

As Zimmern told Yahoo! Life, he wished he could tell would-be restaurateurs that Caesar salad isn't a de rigueuer menu item. The reason he'd suggest they skip it, however, isn't because he doesn't like the dish; far from it. Rather, Zimmern is such a Caesar salad fan that he likes to see it done right, which is something many restaurants may not have the time to do. He's especially opposed to the dressing being prepared in large batches, instead feeling that it should either be made on-demand or not at all.

Instead of running the risk of a subpar Caesar salad from a restaurant, Zimmern prefers to make this dish himself. His dressing includes both raw egg yolks and mashed anchovies, along with lemon juice and olive oil. He simply stirs them with a fork, explaining, "You don't emulsify those things together because the olive oil will turn bitter." While Zimmern told Yahoo! that he likes to make his Caesar salad with gem lettuce, on his website, he does call for the more typical romaine. So it seems he's open to different options here. If you make your Caesar salad with iceberg, though, he might still get a little judgy about that, so we'll just keep that a secret among ourselves.