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Yorkshire Ploughman's Salad
Wash some lettuces, and dry them perfectly. Shred them finely, and toss them lightly in a sauce made as follows. Mix thoroughly a salt-spoonful of salt with an equal quantity of pepper, two table-spoonfuls of vinegar, and one of treacle. Add the sauce to the salad at the moment of serving. A bunch of chives or a handful of young onions may be introduced or not.
A three-ingredient dressing with no oil in it, which is the whole point of the dish rather than an omission. A few notes on the measures and the ingredient names.
- A saltspoonfulThe saltspoon of a Victorian cruet set holds about a quarter of a teaspoon. So roughly 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper to two tablespoons vinegar and one of treacle.
- TreacleBritish black treacle, closest to unsulphured molasses in an American kitchen. Golden syrup will work but gives a much milder, blander result; blackstrap molasses is too bitter for the quantity given.
- The vinegarThe recipe specifies only 'vinegar'; malt vinegar was the ordinary British household vinegar of the period and its maltiness suits the treacle. Cider vinegar is a reasonable substitute; sharp white distilled vinegar makes the dressing harsh.
- No oil, and no substitute for itThis is a sweet-sour dressing that clings rather than coats. Do not be tempted to add oil to "correct" it, but do whisk the treacle into the vinegar until it is completely dissolved, or it will sit in the bottom of the bowl.
- Dry the leaves properlyThe instruction to dry them perfectly matters more here than with an oily dressing, since a thin water-based sauce dilutes instantly and slides off. A salad spinner or a clean towel, then chill the leaves.
- At the moment of servingThe vinegar and salt together will collapse shredded lettuce within a few minutes. Mix the sauce ahead, dress at the table.
- YieldThe recipe gives no quantity of lettuce and no yield. As a rough guide, the dressing as written will handle about two heads of shredded lettuce, enough for four as a side. Scale the dressing rather than stretching it; it is meant to be assertive.
Sweet-sour dressings built on vinegar and a spoonful of sugar or treacle were used in northern England, in households where salad oil was an expensive shop-bought luxury and treacle was already a cupboard staple for cakes, parkin and porridge. The "ploughman's" in the title appears to signal cheapness, plainness and rural labour rather than any documented connection to a particular place or person. The optional chives or young onions are the only fresh element in the dish.