Ingredient guide: Lettuce

No longer a humble vegetable, lettuce is truly gourmet fare. Choose from sweet or bitter, red or green, crispy or soft – there’s a variety perfect for any summer salad or mains. By Lisa Featherby.

At the heart of it all, lettuce is a vegetable that is taken for granted. Lettuce has earned its credibility over the years and is by no means a flash in the pan; the ancient Egyptians began cultivating it 6,000 years ago, believing it had soporific effects. During the first century AD, the Romans were growing a number of varieties and it has since adorned tables of Persian kings and great Greek writers. Today, lettuce is more than just salad filler; with an overabundance of varieties differentiating in texture and taste, it is a true all-rounder.

Buying and storing

Lettuce is extremely perishable and cannot be revived to its fresh, crisp state if bought or stored otherwise. When buying lettuce, look for leaves that are unblemished and have no signs of slimy deterioration. Crisper varieties of lettuce should have a tight head and feel heavier due to both water content and density of leaf layers. With all lettuce, the outer leaves are usually a good indicator of the quality of produce, as they are the most likely to have been damaged or affected by bad storage.

Lettuce should be stored for no longer than one week and kept in plastic bags lined with paper towel in the crisper section of the refrigerator. It is also advisable that the leaves are washed and dried well before being refrigerated.

Cooking and eating

We all know of lettuce being used extensively in salads and as a garnish. Cooking lettuce is an unfamiliar thought to most of us, yet for many years other cultures have eaten lettuce in a multitude of ways. It is not uncommon to find lettuce that is braised, sautéed, grilled, fried, in soups or stir-fried in countries such as France, Italy and China. Regardless of cooking technique, lettuce is a vegetable that can be harmoniously paired with a plethora of flavours, and anything from the sharpness of a good piquant cheese to the subtle creaminess of an avocado can be used.

Tips

• Salads with lettuce should only be dressed at the last minute to prevent the leaves from wilting. 
• Bitter lettuce leaves are higher in antioxidants, making their nutritional value greater.
• Lettuce should always be washed and dried properly in order to remove grit and to prevent dressings from being diluted when applied. You may use a salad spinner, or alternatively, line a plastic bag with a clean tea towel, add the leaves and shake. 
• Unless using a very sharp knife, it is better to tear lettuce leaves rather than cut, to prevent bruising and discolouration.
• Choosing the right dressing for each variety of lettuce is important. As a guide, taste the strength of flavour in the lettuce and the delicacy of the leaf before deciding on the complexity of your dressing. The stronger the flavour or crisper the leaf, the more complex the dressing can be.

Words, recipes & food preparation: Lisa Featherby. Photography: Ben Dearnley. Styling: Michelle Noerianto.