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Exercise XVIII

SALADS.

Long ago the word salad suggested a dish of green herbs dressed with salt, vinegar and other condiments; now the word means salted. Eggs, meat, fish, nearly all kinds of vegetables, fruits, and nuts are combined with a slightly acidulated dressing containing salt, pepper, mustard, oil, butter, or cream. At present salads are used more extensively in France than in any other country, although they are rapidly gaining favor in America.

That salads were used extensively by the people of antiquity is proven by the writings carved upon the Pyramids which show how much garlic, radishes and onions were eaten by the workmen during their building. Herodotus tells us that the cost of these vegetables amounted to sixteen hundred talents of silver, or more than one million dollars.

The early Jews served lettuce, dandelions, mint, etc., combined with oil and vinegar at the Passover. Romans regulated the use of vegetables by law, compelling the people to combine them freely with meats in their dietaries.

Salad Plants.

Chief among salad plants is lettuce which belongs to the dandelion family. It was probably first cultivated on some of the islands of the Mediterranean Sea. In 1520 it was introduced into England and during the reign of Henry VII, the gardener at York Palace received a reward for bringing lettuce and cherries to Hampton Court. Today lettuce is universally cultivated in hot houses and gardens and may be obtained all the year round.