Caesar Dressing

Method

1. mash2 min
   cutting board, flat of the knife
   anchovy fillets + garlic + salt, dragged into a smooth paste — the salt is abrasive here, not seasoning, and it is what shreds the garlic and anchovy fine enough to disappear; skip it and you get gritty flecks that taste like fish instead of depth
2. whisk1 min
   room temperature
   + egg yolk + dijon + lemon juice + worcestershire in a narrow bowl until uniform and slightly lightened. A cold yolk holds oil poorly, and the mustard is a second emulsifier standing by in case the yolk falters
3. emulsify6 min
   constant whisking, oil drop by drop
   + olive oil, the first tablespoon added almost one drop at a time and only then in a thin thread. The yolk's lecithin can only coat oil droplets as fast as the whisk breaks them up — pour faster than that and the oil pools, the sauce turns translucent and greasy, and it will not come back without starting over on a fresh yolk
4. fold1 min
   off the whisk
   + parmesan + black pepper, stirred in rather than whisked, since the cheese thickens the dressing on contact and further beating just makes it pasty. Thin with water only if it will not coat a leaf
5. rest2 min
   covered, room temperature
   the finished dressing, so the raw garlic's bite rounds off and the cheese's salt spreads through — taste for salt only now, after the parmesan has had its say