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Lettuce Salad
WASH and drain the lettuce leaves; toss lightly, so as to remove every drop of water. Sprinkle them with oil, a few drops at a time, tossing the leaves about with spoon and fork after each addition. When each leaf glistens with oil (there should be no oil in the bottom of the bowl) shake over them a few drops of vinegar, then dust with salt and freshly ground pepper. The cutting of lettuce is considered a culinary sin; but, when the straight-leaved lettuce, or the Romaine, is to be used, better effects, at least as far as appearance is concerned, will be produced, if the lettuce be cut into ribbons. To do this, wash the lettuce carefully, without removing the leaves from the stem ; fold together across the centre, and with a sharp, thin knife cut into ribbons less than half an inch in width.
This is a method rather than a formula: no quantities are given because the leaves themselves tell you when to stop. A few notes for anyone working from it today.
- The hinge: oil before vinegarCoating each leaf in oil first waterproofs it, so the vinegar and salt sit on the surface instead of drawing out moisture and collapsing the leaves. Reverse the order and the salad wilts noticeably faster.
- Dry means dry"Remove every drop of water" is not rhetorical — oil will not adhere to a wet leaf, and the dressing pools instead. A salad spinner does in seconds what the original expects you to achieve by tossing.
- Proportions, since none are givenFor a large bowl serving four, roughly 2 tablespoons oil will coat the leaves; the text asks for only a few drops of vinegar, so err well on the side of less than a modern 3:1 dressing. The test given in the text is better than any measurement: stop adding oil when the leaves glisten and the bottom of the bowl is still bare.
- The oil itselfAround 1900 olive oil was the salad oil of choice in American cookery writing, though cheaper cottonseed 'salad oil' was widely sold as well. Anything mild and fresh works; a peppery new-harvest oil will fight the vinegar rather than carry it.
- VinegarHousehold vinegar of the period was usually cider, with wine vinegar as the finer option; strength was broadly comparable to what is sold now. Wine vinegar suits this treatment better than distilled white, which is harsher at the same dose.
- Freshly ground pepperWorth honoring literally. The recipe specifies it rather than pepper from a tin, and the instruction is there because the aroma is the whole point.
- Dress at the tableServe at once -- There is no resting or marinating step, and none should be added. Toss and serve immediately; even a properly oiled salad softens as it stands.
- The ribbonsCutting romaine crosswise into strips under half an inch — a chiffonade — is done with the head still intact so the leaves stay aligned. Use a thin, genuinely sharp blade; a dull knife bruises the cut edge brown.
This collection appeared at a moment when green salad was still slightly suspect in American households — raw vegetables were widely regarded as hard to digest, and lettuce often appeared under a heavy boiled or mayonnaise dressing. The oil-first, vinegar-after method described here is the older French practice, and the ban on cutting lettuce ("a culinary sin") recurs in late nineteenth-century cookery writing, generally justified on the grounds that a knife bruises the leaf and turns the cut edge dark. The willingness to make an exception for romaine — long-leaved, sturdy, and awkward whole on a plate — is the practical cooking-school voice cutting through received etiquette.</p>