Lettuce pray...

"Man was put on this earth to eat meat – the Bible says so…who the hell ever heard of sacrificing a head of lettuce?" Archie Bunker

As with most foods, people have learned what is good to eat by observing and experimenting. The root of the Latin lactuca sativa (Old French laitue) means milk, implying that early varieties were moist and gooey when eaten. Paintings in Egyptian tombs show early varieties were prickly and had seeds, not unlike dandelions gone to seed. Something had to be done, and it was; we now have four major varieties that we eat today: crisphead, cos, loose-leaf and butterhead. This combination of cultivars has become the second favorite vegetable in the U.S. behind potatoes. Most of these lettuces now have rather mild flavors. A new breed is gaining steam: the field or mesclun mix of baby lettuces from the Provencal mescla, “mixture”. This item has been springing up on menus in the U.S. for a couple of decades, but has been known to foragers for eons. For me, the more colors, textures and flavors the better: select a rainbow in sweet, salty, peppery, sour and bitter for a full bouquet salad! Varieties often include these lettuces: Red & Green Oak, a dark red lettuce shaped like an oak leaf cultivated since the early 1800s it is tender, sweet, never bitter; Leaf lettuces grow in loose heads, crisp, full-flavored, easy to grow and harvest. Romaine is a firm, crisp, crunchy, fibrous, flat and broad-leafed cos variety; “Cos” is often believed to signify the island of Kos as the place of origin for the variety, but the name originates from the Arabic word for lettuce. Lollo Rosa is a beautiful magenta, mild, lightly crisp lettuce with curly red edges, and frilly, tender leaves. Bibb is a butterhead variety, with a soft, buttery texture; bibb is also known as Boston lettuce. Many spring mixes include greens that aren’t lettuces: chards, radicchios, spinaches, chicories and many Asian greens are also included, but these are all for other discussions. So enjoy your greens until your hearts are content.

"Lettuce is like conversation: It must be fresh and crisp, and so sparkling that you scarcely notice the bitter in it." C.D. Warner

http://www.yumalettucedays.com/ Yuma, AZ
http://thehollytree.blogspot.com/2007/04/13th-annual-artas-lettuce-festival.html Bethlehem, West Bank