the.com/lettuce
the salad's most confident way of bringing almost nothing to the table
means A leafy green vegetable, usually eaten raw, that forms the crisp backbone of most salads.
from From Latin 'lactuca,' built on 'lac' (milk) — a nod to the milky white sap that weeps from a cut lettuce stem. It traveled through Old French 'laitues' before settling into English as 'lettuce.' So the salad green is, etymologically, the 'milk plant' — named not for its leaves but for the pale juice it bleeds.
- water content
- roughly 95% water, basically crunchy hydration
- sleepy origins
- ancient Egyptians used it as an aphrodisiac
- botanical kin
- a member of the daisy family
- bitter defense
- wild lettuce leaks a milky opium-like sap
- recall champ
- a frequent culprit in foodborne outbreak headlines
iceberg lettuce — most widely consumed variety in north america, comprises ~70% of u.s. lettuce sales
romaine lettuce — staple of caesar salad, native to mediterranean region near cos island
butterhead lettuce — includes boston and bibb varieties, prized for tender inner leaves in french cuisine