Columbia's 1905 Salad is from Florida's oldest restaurant in Tampa, and the oldest Spanish restaurant in the United States, called Columbia Restaurant. The restaurant opened in 1905, but this famous salad wasn't "invented" until 1940 by waiter Tony Noriega. He made it using leftover Spanish and Italian ingredients from the kitchen. The Columbia’s legendary salad is tossed tableside. They are the biggest restaurant consumer of Lea & Perrin’s Worcestershire sauce in the country, which is the “secret sauce” in the dressing recipe.
Prep: 25 mins
Yields: 4 Servings
Ingredients
Dressing
½ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1-2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1-2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
Salad
1 head iceberg lettuce, shredded
½ pound ham slices, julienned
⅓ pound Swiss cheese slices, julienned
10 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved
5 ounces green olives, sliced
½ red onion, sliced thin
5 ounces croutons
2 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated
Directions
Dressing
1If serving immediately, whisk together all of your ingredients at the bottom of your large salad bowl. Taste and adjust the flavors if needed. Set aside.
Salad
1Combine all of your prepped ingredients in the salad bowl and toss with the dressing thoroughly to coat all. Add extra freshly grated parmesan right before serving.
Make it ahead
1Made the salad dressing and prepared the onion and ham the day before. Then, when it was time to assemble, all I had to do was chop my lettuce, slice a few tomatoes, and toast the croutons.