Kolkatan Chef Kirti Bhoutika Styles Caesar Salad With Olives and Tomatoes

Summary: Kolkatan Chef Kirti Bhoutika styles Caesar Salad with olives and tomatoes in her version of "one salad that is always found in every restaurant menu."

Twenty-year-old Kirti Bhoutika became the youngest winner of MasterChef India with her December 2016 win in the competitive cooking game show's fifth season: Kirti Bhoutika, via Facebook Dec. 11, 2016

Kolkatan Chef Kirti Bhoutika styles Caesar Salad with olives and tomatoes in her homemade version of the classic salad "that is always found in every restaurant menu."

Classic Caesar Salad is approaching its 100th anniversary. In 1924, Italian immigrant restauranteur Cesare "Caesar" Cardini (Feb. 24, 1896-Nov. 3, 1956) debuted his new recipe in his restaurant, Cesare's Restaurant, in Baja California state's resort city of Tijuana in northwestern Mexico.

Since its debut, Caesar Salad has been welcomed into the world's cuisines. Caesar Salad's ease of preparation and basic ingredients have facilitated the recipe's ubiquitous appearance on restaurant menus and its abundant, global non-vegetarian, vegan and vegetarian variations.

Parmesan cheese, garlic-toasted croutons, coddled eggs and romaine lettuce leaves compose Chef Cesare's appealing bouquet of salad ingredients. His original recipe's dressing, Worcestershire sauce, which contains anchovy pieces, accounts for subsequent misperceptions of anchovy fillets in the salad's Tijuana introduction.

Kolkatan Chef Kirti Bhoutika (born Jan. 1, 1996) reminds her social media followers that "I love salads" in her "Best Ever Caeser [sic] Salad" video postings to Instagram May 26, 2021, and to Facebook and YouTube May 28, 2021. She notes Caesar Salad's reliable appearance on restaurant menus. She explains that demonstrating her recipe will overcome the intimidating, albeit erroneous, notion that homemade Caesar Salad cannot compete with restaurant offerings. She encourages by describing her Best Ever Caesar Salad as "Must try for all salad loversss!" She assesses: "Yummy, yummy salad recipe. It's a classic. You're going to love it."

Chef Kirti begins her Best Ever Caesar Salad with the salad's dressing. She deposits 2 to 3 tablespoons of mayonnaise, 1 teaspoon of mustard sauce, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO).

Two cloves of garlic are grated into the dressing bowl. Then 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese is added.

Two to three tablespoons of water are poured over the ingredients. All ingredients are blended well together. Then salt is sprinkled, according to taste, and stirred into the dressing. The dressing is set aside.

Chef Kirti's croutons call for two pieces of bread; she prefers brown bread. The bread is cut into cubes and added to a pan with 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and 2 or 3 sprigs of thyme. Salt, according to taste, is sprinkled. The flavored bread cubes are sautéed to the point of crouton crunchiness.

The Best Ever Caesar Salad recipe's next focus is assembling the salad. One head of iceberg lettuce is torn into a bowl. Several tablespoons of the dressing are drizzled in circles over the lettuce. Then Chef Kirti hand-blends the lettuce with the dressing.

The dressed lettuce is hand-plated. Chef Kirti colorfully, deliciously and nutritiously decorates her version of traditional Caesar Salad with sun-dried tomato pieces and black olive slices. Croutons are positioned atop the salad. Parmesan cheese is grated for the final flourish.

Chef Kirti appends three suggestions about ingredients to her Best Ever Caesar Salad recipe. She prefers iceberg lettuce, which she assesses as "the crunchiest of all the kinds of lettuce you get in the market." Nevertheless, any lettuce may be substituted. Also, different lettuce varieties may be mixed.

Processed cheese may be used instead of Parmesan cheese. Chef Kirti recommends making a sauce with the processed cheese, which then is mixed into the dressing.

Indian yogurt, known as hung curd, also qualifies as a healthy substitute for Parmesan cheese. Hung curd contributes to the dressing's body.

In addition to her Best Ever Caesar Salad, Chef Kirti's salad repertoire includes Greek Pasta Salad and Mango Quinoa Salad. She especially appreciates Asian salads, with tantalizing recipes for Raw Papaya Salad (Som Tam Salad) and Soba Noodles Salad in Peanut Butter Dressing

Chef Kirti received her secondary education at Mahadevi Birla World Academy in Kolkata, West Bengal. The school was established in 1959 by Bengali industrialist Sir Basant Kumar Birla (Jan. 12, 1921-July 3, 2019) and his wife, Sarala Birla (Nov. 23, 1923-March 28, 2015). The English-medium school takes its motto, "Tamaso Ma Jyotirgamay" ("Lead Us From Darkness To Light"), from a verse in the ancient Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (I.iii.8).

Chef Kirti entered Kolkata's J.D. Birla Institute in 2013. She received her bachelor's degree in Nutrition Sciences in 2016.

Sushila Devi Birla founded the institute in June 1962 in honor of her mother-in-law, Shrimathi (Smt.) Jawahari Devi Birla. Shrimathi Sushila's husband was Lakshmi Niwas Birla (July 11, 1909-Aug. 29, 1994), an older brother of Sir Basant Kumar Birla.

Chef Kirti's win in December 2016 in the fifth season of India's competitive cooking game show MasterChef India established her dedication, expertise and precocity. Twenty years old at her win, Kirti rates as the youngest MasterChef winner.

Beyond salads, baking holds a special place in Chef Kirti's culinary repertoire. She founded SugarPlum Cakery in her hometown in February 2018.

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A post shared by Chef Kirti Bhoutika (@kirtibhoutika)

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Twenty-year-old Kirti Bhoutika became the youngest winner of MasterChef India with her December 2016 win in the competitive cooking game show's fifth season: Kirti Bhoutika, via Facebook Dec. 11, 2016, @ https://www.facebook.com/chefkirtibhoutika/posts/1890598134502097/

Kolkatan Chef Kirti Bhoutika colorfully, deliciously and nutritiously decorates her version of traditional Caesar Salad with olives and sun-dried tomatoes: Chef Kirti Bhoutika (@kirtibhoutika), via Instagram May 26, 2021, @ https://www.instagram.com/tv/CPVenpsBciH/

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