Home › Recipes › Lettuce Sweet Salad

Lettuce Sweet Salad

6 or 8 heads of lettuce. 12 small spring onions. 1 cup of vinegar. 1/2 cup of sugar. 2 sprigs of garden mint.

Cut the lettuce small; slice in the white part of the onions with very little of the green; chop the mint. Mix all. Serve cold.

Some people say lettuce should never be washed as water spoils it, but be gathered fresh from the garden and broken into the salad bowl. That will do for the lady of a house, but will never do for hotel work. Here is a story some centuries old of a giant, that will tell why: "The story requireth that we relate what happened unto six pilgrims, who came from Sebastian near to Nantes; and who for shelter that night, being afraid of the enemy, had hid themselves in the garden upon the chicheling pease, among the cabbages and lettices. Gargantua, finding himself somewhat dry, asked whether they could get any lettice to make him a sallad; and hearing that there were the greatest and fairest in the country (for they were as great as plum trees) he would go thither himself, and brought thence in his hand what he thought good, and withal carried away the six pilgrims, who were in so great fear, they did not dare to speak nor cough. "Washing them, therefore, first at the fountain, the pilgrims said one to another softly, 'What shall we do? we are almost drowned here amongst these lettices, shall we speak? but if we speak he will kill us for spies?' As they were thus deliberating what to do, Gargantua put them with the lettice into a platter of the house as large as the huge tun of the Cistertians, which done, with oil, vinegar and salt, he eat them up, to refresh himself a lit le before supper, and had already swallowed up five of the pilgrims, the sixth being in the platter, totally hid under the lettice, except his staff that appeared, and nothing else; which Grangousier seeing, said to Gargantua, 'I think that is the horn of a shell snail, do not eat it.' 'Why not?' said Gargantua; 'they are good all this month,' which he no sooner said but drawing up the staff, and therewith taking up the pilgrim, he eat him very well, then drank a terrible draught of excellent white-wine, and expected supper to be brought up."

Nowadays we call those pilgrims insects. Moral: wash your lettuce well and look between the leaves; likewise your curled endive, or chicory.