Lettuce lessons
Baffled by the extraordinary range of lettuces and salad accessories available these days in the fresh produce section? To help you enrich your salad days with a deeper understanding of one of the West's most ancient cultivated vegetables, we've categorized the bewildering variety of leafy greens.
Iceberg
The star ingredient of pedestrian side salads in roadhouse restaurants across the land, iceberg lettuce is compact, spherical, and whitish green, with a crispy texture. The most common and popular lettuce, iceberg lettuce is also one of the more bland and least nutritious of leafy greens. The reason for its popularity: it ships relatively easily, and has been travelling great distances from field to market since the days when it was packed under giant blocks of ice (thus the name, “iceberg”). Lots of other types of lettuce are now available fresh all year round at reasonable prices, so branch out if you've been relying heavily on this old favourite. Look for crisp leaves without brown spots or other blemishes; the darker the green, the more nutrients in the lettuce.
Iceberg
The star ingredient of pedestrian side salads in roadhouse restaurants across the land, iceberg lettuce is compact, spherical, and whitish green, with a crispy texture. The most common and popular lettuce, iceberg lettuce is also one of the more bland and least nutritious of leafy greens. The reason for its popularity: it ships relatively easily, and has been travelling great distances from field to market since the days when it was packed under giant blocks of ice (thus the name, “iceberg”). Lots of other types of lettuce are now available fresh all year round at reasonable prices, so branch out if you've been relying heavily on this old favourite. Look for crisp leaves without brown spots or other blemishes; the darker the green, the more nutrients in the lettuce.
Butterhead
Butter lettuces grow in small, loose heads. The pale green leaves are soft and pliant rather than crispy; the taste is sweet and mellow. Butterhead is a crowd pleaser, since it's not as bitter as most other kinds of lettuce. Serve this lettuce to fussy children, and unadventurous meat-and-potato types.
Romaine
The long, crinkly leaves of Romaine lettuce are most familiarly found under croutons and the savoury dressing of a Caesar salad. Romaine is a crisp head lettuce, dark green on the outside, yellow-green and tender on the inside. Choose a head with healthy, firm leaves of even colour.
Leaf Lettuce
There are many varieties of leaf lettuce (e.g. red, green, oak leaf) growing in loose bunches instead of round heads. The leaves of leaf lettuce are generally large, wrinkly, and green to dark green. All are flavourful, crisp, nutritious, and versatile. Look for unwilted, blemish-free bunches.
Salad Accessories
Salads get fancy with the addition of various greens, such as radicchio, spinach, Swiss chard, watercress, arugula and Belgian endive. You'll recognize these fashionable ingredients from the plates of upscale bistros, where no salad is just a salad anymore. The red-leafed radicchio has a strong, bitter flavour; watercress is peppery; endive is crunchy and bittersweet; Swiss chard is beet-like. These greens are sometimes used as a salad foundation, but if you're a salad novice, a better bet is to mix them in with the more common lettuces. Most of these are available in the produce section of modern superstores. As with the lettuces, look for unwilted, unblemished leaves. Endive leaves should be tightly packed, and pale yellow. Avoid any that are turning green.
Butter lettuces grow in small, loose heads. The pale green leaves are soft and pliant rather than crispy; the taste is sweet and mellow. Butterhead is a crowd pleaser, since it's not as bitter as most other kinds of lettuce. Serve this lettuce to fussy children, and unadventurous meat-and-potato types.
Romaine
The long, crinkly leaves of Romaine lettuce are most familiarly found under croutons and the savoury dressing of a Caesar salad. Romaine is a crisp head lettuce, dark green on the outside, yellow-green and tender on the inside. Choose a head with healthy, firm leaves of even colour.
Leaf Lettuce
There are many varieties of leaf lettuce (e.g. red, green, oak leaf) growing in loose bunches instead of round heads. The leaves of leaf lettuce are generally large, wrinkly, and green to dark green. All are flavourful, crisp, nutritious, and versatile. Look for unwilted, blemish-free bunches.
Salad Accessories
Salads get fancy with the addition of various greens, such as radicchio, spinach, Swiss chard, watercress, arugula and Belgian endive. You'll recognize these fashionable ingredients from the plates of upscale bistros, where no salad is just a salad anymore. The red-leafed radicchio has a strong, bitter flavour; watercress is peppery; endive is crunchy and bittersweet; Swiss chard is beet-like. These greens are sometimes used as a salad foundation, but if you're a salad novice, a better bet is to mix them in with the more common lettuces. Most of these are available in the produce section of modern superstores. As with the lettuces, look for unwilted, unblemished leaves. Endive leaves should be tightly packed, and pale yellow. Avoid any that are turning green.
Advertisement
