To listen to this post in French, click below
My mother’s favourite kind of lettuce was romaine, like the one on the photo. She’d go to Deauville market and buy a couple of them, clean them up and serve some leaves on a dish. She didn’t prepare them with any dressing.
She said romaine was so crisp and tasty that it didn’t need anything to enhance its taste. She’d just dip a leaf into a bit of salt and would eat it like a radish with some bread and butter. Maybe she ate it in the Polish fashion…
She always left the core of the romaine for the children. I must admit I found the leaves somewhat bitter. But I liked the core, which is called le coeur in French –the heart– and enjoyed the attention.
Much later, when my daughter was little, I too gave her the core of the lettuce, and she seemed to enjoy it too.
Technorati Tags: diving into the past, memories, romaine, mother, Gitta
Nice podcast Claude, it’s nice to hear your voice
Comment by Matt — July 23, 2007 @ 2:15 pm
Claude, I like romaine leaves (the small ones) used as an appetizer, stuffed with pimiento cheese and topped wih an olive. It is great!
Comment by kenju — July 23, 2007 @ 2:40 pm
I love romaine lettuce! It has so much more flavor than the iceberg lettuce most people here! The picture is wonderful — I feel an urge to run to the market!
Comment by Kay Dennison — July 23, 2007 @ 2:45 pm
My grandmother always left the little white celery hearts for us when we were small
Comment by tut-tut — July 23, 2007 @ 3:56 pm
Yes, we call the center part of the lettuce the “heart” too. You can buy hearts of romaine in the U.S., if I remember correctly, in a cellophane or plastic bag. Romaine lettuce is the main ingredient in a Caesar Salad, which has a dressing made with lemon juice, a raw egg, vinegar, Worcestershire Sauce, and grated parmesan cheese, and can also contain anchovies. That’s a little more complicated than your mother’s way of eating romaine, and very American I’d say. The first time I ever prepared a Caesar Salad for some French people they said they thought I had become an alchemist.
Comment by Ken — July 23, 2007 @ 4:43 pm
@ Matt thanks! I usually record my Diving into the Past posts into French, but haven’t dived much into the past lately
Thanks for the recipe. I like it best without the anchovies.
@ Judy, I’ll have to try that!
@ Kay, at least romaine is healthy ; so run!
@ tut-tut, same for celery hearts here…
@ ken, I thought of Caesar salad when writing the post, but then it wouldn’t have been DITP (diving into the past)
Comment by claudecf — July 23, 2007 @ 5:04 pm
Tasty and beautifully green!
Comment by David — July 24, 2007 @ 12:38 am
Romaine is one of my favorites too. Loved the podcast….I just love listening to your voice Claude.
Comment by Joy — July 24, 2007 @ 6:03 am
It was very interesting to hear you reading the post. Will try Romaine undressed next time I find some to buy.
Comment by Sablonneuse — July 24, 2007 @ 12:09 pm
There are so many kinds of lettuce, each good in its own way. But there’s nothing like Romaine to add crunchiness to a salad.
Comment by Ronni Bennett — July 24, 2007 @ 1:03 pm
My mum would also give me the “heart” of the lettuce, and I always assumed that was why she’d call me “her little heart”… I found it so delicious, you see, that it seemed a suitable nickname for someone you liked a lot !
Comment by Ed — July 24, 2007 @ 6:29 pm
Sometimes when we go to Costco and it is available we buy the big package of romaine lettuce for a price that is so cheap we cannot resist.
I end up giving some away to relatives who get to enjoy our surplus. Even so, it is cheaper and so much better than the super market.
Comment by Chancy — July 24, 2007 @ 7:57 pm
a celery heart lover as some other commenters, now i’ll try romaine hearts. but will the lettuce here taste as delicious?
as an aside, so sad to see your spam blocked statistics. there are too many idle people using computers…make love, not spam might be a new motto.
Comment by naomi dagen bloom — July 24, 2007 @ 8:43 pm
@ Naomi, the blocked spam stats represent only what has been blocked since I moved to wordpress.com. One and a half month’s spam
Comment by claudecf — July 24, 2007 @ 8:46 pm
I also love romaine lettuce, but also find it can be bitter.
I had to smile, because I truly can’t ever recall my Polish grandmother eating lettuce. I’m not sure why, but she never served it.
Comment by Terri — July 25, 2007 @ 10:03 pm