Date: Thu, 7 Nov 2013 15:59:28 -0500
From: “John R Dykers”
Subject: Iceberg lettuce
Loved nabooko’s post about salad in general and iceberg lettuce in particular and its relationship to economics.
Iceberg’s lack of nutrition is equaled by its value as fibre and I happen to enjoy it greatly, especially close to the heart. Crispy. Guess for me it is more texture, depending on the dressing for taste.
In the mid 80’s I had occassion to travel behind the Iron Curtain in Czecheslovakia, Rumania, Hugary, and Yugoslavia. There was no iceberg lettuce there,and all the salads were basically cucumber. Did not see it again until back in ‘western’ Europe. Finally figured out that it was a function of the availablity of refrigeration throughout the food chain. Iceberg won’t keep nearly as well as cucumbers. (Literary reference, “East of Eden”, when daddy’s lettuce in California rotted in the freight cars of the stranded train as the ice melted before he could ship it to Chicago and make his fortune.)
John Dykers