The Green Salad Faux Pas
What goes into a green salad? Not what you might think..
This post comes on the back of a conversation I had with one of my French chefs when I asked him what a French term meant on a jar of capers that I had recently seen. He had no idea, neither did the French Assistant Manager. “It doesn’t make sense” he told me, looking as perplexed as I did.
We agreed that this was nothing other than an abuse of the French language, ‘Franglaise’ gone mad. There are so many examples of this in my profession that the original concept is now so far removed it is almost extinct. Because of this, people’s perception of what something should taste/look like makes serving the ‘proper’ dish somewhat difficult.
The green salad is the classic example of this. It is routinely abused in restaurants and hotels across the country with an almost reckless abandon. I remember ordering one in a local gastropub. Being blessed with the worst table in the place I could hear the ‘chefs’ (another much abused term) talking about football, sex and techno. “Wots a green salad?” one asked “Just stick anything green in a bowl with a bit of dressing” came the enlightened reply.
I knew what was coming, some manky salad leaves, strips of raw green pepper sliced an inch thick, oxidised apple wedges, unpeeled celery and too much spring onion. The dressing was balsamic vinegar (well, an impression of one) which also featured heavily on my main course and I kicked myself for having bothered to ask in the first place.
Green salad means lettuce leaves which have been washed and lightly dressed with vinaigrette so as to flavour rather than drown. Some herbs such as tarragon or chervil wouldn’t interfere either but that’s where I draw the line. The problem here is that many would feel cheated if they were given a bowl of lettuce leaves and nothing else. What it should do is act as a refreshing foil to the main course, leaving the customer to feel fed rather than stuffed.
I may start a campaign to bring back green salad ‘proper’. Are you listening Channel 4?
This post is filed under food thrift/sustainability and gross profit achievement 
Miles,
There’s a place in Lincoln where the salad includes finely grated carrot/beetroot and pumpkin/sunflower seeds with a light vinaigrette. Apart from this, I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed a salad in a restaurant. I like the sound of your green salad.
Today with ten minutes and one large lemon to spare, I made a pot of lemon curd. So much more enjoyable than cleaning out the drain to the shower
and now with the last of the afternoon sun I’m off for a walk.
Cid
February 10, 2008 @ 2:27 pm
Cid,
Salad recipes will be forthcoming, have no fear. I love lemon curd, make sure you don’t waste any on a tuesday!
Miles
February 10, 2008 @ 4:11 pm
Miles,
One day Auntie Cid will drop by Reception and leave a pot with your name on it. Our usual courier service might forget to part with it or leave it for a week out of the fridge… or worse still, try it as a hair product!
Cid
February 10, 2008 @ 4:53 pm
Cid,
What a thought
Miles
February 10, 2008 @ 5:17 pm
During a recent decadent mini-holiday (spent in my living room with an old school chum), my friend and I made scones, and I delighted in eating the with a touch of Key lime curd. What a sinful pleasure!!! I had originally gone to the shop in search of lemon curd (all sold out), and took the Key lime one on a whim. What a wonderful surprise.
Your post on salads interested me a great deal. Most of our restaurants have a whole section of their menu dedicated to the varying types of salads they prepare. My favorite home prepared one consists of a 50-50 blend of mixed baby greens and fresh spinach, dried cranberries, pine nuts, tomatoes, all topped with a raspberry walnut vinaigrette. I eat this as my dessert. I know Miles must be spinning with disgust by now. Chalk it up to the unsophisticated palate of a colonial.
February 11, 2008 @ 6:25 pm
Miles,
I loved the salads in Italy served as a starter. They tended to be lovely, fresh green salads and never over seasoned. As you say, a real starter before a good main dish. I think I need to go back there.
The average “salad” served in gastropubs alongside dishes in the UK are disgusting. How anyone can just sling a few bits of torn off cabbage/salad with 2 bits of cucumber and tomato on a plate and call it a salad is beyond me.
Elsie
February 11, 2008 @ 8:50 pm
Annie/Elsie
There are some truly great mixed salads to be eaten, but they are totally seperate to a classic green salad which serves an entirely different purpose. ‘Classic’ salads are designed to serve a specific purpose, the problem is that people bugger about with them to the extent that their original reason becomes somewhat lost.
Miles
February 11, 2008 @ 11:40 pm
I am SO with you, Miles! I am something of a ‘green salad snob,’ but I live in California so I have access to wonderful greens all year long. This salad, or a variant thereof, is on nearly every one of my dinner menus…
February 12, 2008 @ 10:52 pm