Kitchen Gardeners International: Romaine's Long, Leafy History
By Barbara Damrosch
Finding the ancient origin of a popular food is always intriguing, especially if it leads to a new adventure in the kitchen. Take ordinary lettuce. The oldest lettuce type is the upright, long-leaved Romaine, its ancestor on full display in Egyptian bas-reliefs from the third millennium B.C. The French name Romaine, a reference to its presence in papal gardens, merely points to a step along the journey to modern times. Its other common name, cos lettuce, links it to the Greek Island of Kos. But that, too, was a way station, according to William Woys Weaver in "100 Vegetables and Where They Came From."
"Those large, long, stiff-leaved sorts," Weaver recounts, "were consciously selected by Syrian gardeners so that the leaves would develop strong ribs and spoon-shaped foliage. The reason for this was simple: the lettuces were used as an edible scoop or spoon when eating tabbouleh-like foods." Still an excellent reason to grow Romaine.
Seed catalogues list many tried-and-true Romaine varieties. Parris Island cos, bred in South Carolina in 1952, is large, crisp and mild-tasting. I also like the ruddy-tipped, chill-tolerant Rouge d'Hiver and the red, carnival-like speckles of Flashy Troutback.
Like all lettuces, Romaine is a cool-weather crop. In Washington, where summer heat can arrive in May, you could sow lettuce seeds indoors now, so as to have robust seedlings to transplant outdoors in early March. For a later spring planting, the Israeli-bred, heat-tolerant Jericho is the best choice. Lettuce plants should be set out 10 to 12 inches apart in a fertile, moisture-retentive soil that is rich in organic matter.
Romaine's robust texture makes it a versatile salad lettuce. It has nearly the firmness of the iceberg type but with better color and more nutrients, especially vitamins K, A and C, as well as folate. Cooks love the way it holds up well to heavy dressings such as creamy blue cheese, warmed anchovy and garlic or the classic Caesar with egg and Parmesan cheese. To use it as a dipping scoop, I'll choose the smaller inner leaves.
But the tabbouleh test will have to wait for the first tomatoes. This wonderful dish of bulgur wheat dressed with olive oil, parsley and garlic requires the presence of chopped tomatoes picked vine-ripe. (It'll also be good with the first fall Romaines.)
Meanwhile, I'll try a lettuce-scooped Provencal tapenade with black olives, capers and tuna, or the Greek htipiti, a puree of feta cheese, olive oil, lemon and roasted red pepper. Or an ultra-garlicky Middle Eastern hummus with sesame tahini, chickpeas and olive oil, fit for a banquet in ancient Mesopotamia.
Article copyright of Barbara Damrosch
Photo credit: Joi
Posted by KGI on February 7, 2008 2:37 PM to Kitchen Gardeners International
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