Knock, Knock! Who's There? Lettuce. Lettuce, Who? Lettuce Alone, We're On Our Honeymoon
Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a fan of trendy lettuce. If you ever give me my choice of what lettuce to have, it will be Head Lettuce, specifically the green parts. (Not the white parts, which my family has long believed to be deadly.) One of my cousins, Jill, and I discussed at length how this came to be coming from such an Epicurean family as ours. To start out with, all manner of edible greens grow wild in Southern California and when served the trendiest of lettuces in the fanciest of establishments, all I see are lawn clippings and weeds. (I remember my mother picking this and that out of the yard and declaring it Salad.) And then there are the two main reasons:
1) Head lettuce was seldom served in our house and it was never the salad. It was the garnish to the monthly dinner of Tacos. It didn't have to be tediously torn into bite sized bits, (never cut lettuce, we were told, although this appears to be insupportable by science), but could be shredded easily with a knife.
2) It was always my job to wash the lettuce and Leaf Lettuce (and Spinach, which we ate raw at least a decade before anyone else would), and was pretty dirty stuff in those days. First you have to wash out the sink, then you separated the leaves and swished them around in the water, draining and swishing until the water looked clean.- at least three times. With head lettuce, you simply cut out the core (now I just smack the cord end on the counter and it breaks right out) and stick it under the faucet - turn it over and drain the water out. Good Times!
Haven't heard one of those Knock-Knock jokes in a long time! In face, don't think I ever heard that one.
ReplyDeleteYou are speaking of iceberg lettuce I assume. As for me, I much prefer the trendy lettuce, or Rommaine. To me the iceberg is tasteless, but hey, we're all different.
I can understand why you came to dislike leaf lettuce since you have the bad association of being the one to clean it. But perhaps you need to give it a second chance. Just close your eyes when you eat it so you won't be reminded of lawn clippings!!
I suppose having grown up on iceberg lettuce, I prefer anything dark green to pale green, though the darker the more expensive it seems' Then I discovered how easy it is to grow spinach and chard. We do also grow some whiter stuff, but discovered it's hard to keep up with it (sow small amounts often, we learned).
ReplyDeleteI happily eat all lettuce, trendy or otherwise, pretty much every day. We were greatly amused in The Hobbit by the dwarf who held up a large leaf, crying 'I don't like Green Food - where's the Meat'. My Mum used to forage for the odd green growing wild for free, too. Hardy women in the old days.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason the only way I really like head lettuce is shredded. I love the more trendy spring green salads with their lovely colors and shapes. But I do understand food dislikes. My father forced me to eat a huge bowl of candied yams and to this day they nauseate me just looking at them.
ReplyDeleteCute knock knock joke. Every once in awhile I like iceberg lettuce, cut in a wedge and served (must be pointy side uo!) drenched in blue cheese dressing. Or Green Goddess dressing. I eat all kinds of greens though.
ReplyDeleteDarla
I absolutely love lettuce, in fact any sort of salad green, but I have never heard of head lettuce! Is that a US variety?
ReplyDeleteI love head lettuce and I think there are a lot of head lettuce snobs out there now.
ReplyDeleteHi Sanda - Thanks, it is Iceberg - just couldn't remember what it was called. I do like Romaine and it's not just because it's so easy to wash!
ReplyDeleteHi Shelley - I always wanted to grow chard. I love cooking with it, but if I grew it, I might pick it really early and eat it raw. And if I could grow my own spinach, I would save a bunch of money, since John juices with it everyday.
ReplyDeleteHi Patricia - I agree about enjoying lettuce everyday. Funny that both our mothers foraged - I remember being so impressed by her. My father would brag to us about what a hard worker she was and how much she knew.
ReplyDeleteHi Debbi - One of the best things about growing up in a big family was never being forced to eat anything. If you didn't want to eat it, someone else always would.
ReplyDeleteHi Darla - I love that Wedge Salads are being served in restaurants again. Whenever I see it on a menu, I order it. Especially good when sprinkled with bacon.
ReplyDeleteHi Carolyn - I do love salads too, no matter what lettuce is used. Throw in some Avocado and I'm in Heaven. Thanks to Sanda, I have the formal name of head lettuce - Iceberg Lettuce. Can't imagine that it is just a US thing, but haven't been to Australia.
ReplyDeleteHi Carla - Lettuce snobs! How cute!
ReplyDelete