P
American
Cobb Salad
A large, flat plate or bowl with finely chopped ingredients arranged in parallel rows: romaine and iceberg lettuce (mixed), diced cooked chicken breast, crumbled crispy bacon, diced hard-boiled egg, diced ripe avocado, diced tomato, crumbled blue cheese (Roquefort is traditional), and chopped chives or green onion. The dressing — a classic red wine vinaigrette (red wine vinegar, olive oil, Dijon mustard, garlic, salt, pepper) — is served on the side or drizzled over the composed rows.
‹Swipe for the next dish›
I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
For the salad
1 head
romaine lettuce
finely chopped
Your own market
½ head
iceberg lettuce
finely chopped
Your own market
300 g
cooked chicken breast
diced small, uniform
Your own market
150 g
streaky bacon
cooked until crisp, crumbled
Your own market
4
eggs
hard-boiled, peeled, diced small
Your own market
2
ripe avocados
diced small
Your own market
2
100 g
Roquefort or blue cheese
crumbled
Your own market
30 g
chives or green onion
finely chopped
Your own market
For the red wine vinaigrette
60 ml
red wine vinegar
Your own market
180 ml
olive oil
Your own market
1 tsp
Dijon mustard
Your own market
1 clove
garlic
finely minced
Your own market
1 tsp
fine salt
Your own market
½ tsp
black pepper
freshly ground
Your own market
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
II
The Method
1
Hard-boil the eggs: lower them into simmering water and cook for 11 minutes, then transfer to iced water. Once cold, peel and dice to a small, uniform cut. Set aside. The yolk should be fully set with no grey ring at its edge — that is the sign they are done and no further.
2
Cook the bacon in a dry pan over medium heat, turning as needed, until every rasher is deeply browned and brittle throughout. Drain on absorbent paper and crumble into pieces consistent with the other diced ingredients. The bacon must snap, not bend.
3
Make the vinaigrette: whisk the red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, minced garlic, salt, and pepper together in a bowl until the salt dissolves. Pour in the olive oil in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly, until the dressing is emulsified and slightly thickened. Taste: it must be tart and assertive — a mild dressing loses the salad.
4
Prepare all remaining salad components — chicken, avocado, tomato, blue cheese, chives — to the same small, uniform dice or crumble as the egg and bacon. Consistency of cut determines whether every forkful contains multiple elements.
5
Spread the mixed chopped romaine and iceberg lettuce in an even layer across a large, flat plate or wide shallow bowl. Arrange all remaining components — chicken, bacon, egg, avocado, tomato, blue cheese, chives — in parallel rows across the surface of the lettuce, each ingredient occupying its own stripe. The finished plate presents clear bands of colour: green, white, red, brown, blue. Serve the vinaigrette on the side or drizzle it over the composed rows at table.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Roquefort PDO from a named affineur; chicken from a heritage breed, poached to order; eggs from a single-farm flock with deep-orange yolks; first cold-press olive oil for the vinaigrette.
02
Estate — A quality domestic blue cheese; free-range chicken breast; good-quality aged red wine vinegar; properly ripe, hand-selected avocados and tomatoes.
03
Market — Supermarket blue cheese crumbles; standard chicken breast; commercial red wine vinegar; ripe avocados chosen at purchase.
04
House — Any crumbled blue cheese to hand; pre-cooked chicken; bottled vinaigrette used in place of house-made — the composition remains, but the assertiveness of the dressing cannot be guaranteed.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Sight. Each ingredient occupies a distinct, unbroken stripe across the plate; colours — green, white, red, brown, blue — are clearly delineated with no bleeding between rows.
◇Sight. All diced components are uniform in size, small enough that a single forkful can capture at least three ingredients at once.
◇Sight. The hard-boiled egg yolk is fully set and pale gold throughout, with no grey-green ring.
◇Sound. The crumbled bacon snaps cleanly rather than bending — it is fully crisp throughout.
◇Touch. The avocado yields gently under the knife but holds its diced shape without collapsing — it is ripe but not overripe.
◇Where it lives or dies. The vinaigrette must be tart and assertive — a mild dressing cannot bind the disparate ingredients, and the salad is lost.
Pillar V
Cross-cuisine parallels are part of membership.
The dishes this one teaches you, across the cuisines — on every recipe.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Ancient Lakes of Columbia Valley Riesling
Ancient Lakes Vineyard — Cave B · Ancient Lakes
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Wine
From British Columbia
Wine
Without alcohol
GT's Synergy Organic Kombucha — Gingerade
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Non-alcoholic
Why each one works is part of membership — Enter · from $49 a year →
The whole pairingPillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
Enter · from $49 a year