The French have quite a vague notion of salad. It can be something as summery and well-balanced as a salade niçoise or as satisfying and gourmande as a salade au chèvre chaud.Yet, when served as a side dish--just salade in its naked form, no adjectives or fuss--you realize that to the French, salad actually means one thing: lettuce. We're not even talking mâche (lamb's ear lettuce) or baby spinach. A few limp leaves of iceberg, and that's it. If you're very lucky, you might get a couple slices of tomato, too. But don't count on it. It's not like you ordered the salade de tomates.
But what about everyday meals in the comfort of their homes? The French must be doing something with all their cucumbers and carrots and cherry tomatoes. Well, that's what apéro's for. They put all their raw veggies in little bowls on the coffee table and nibble away as they nurse a glass of wine. No wonder there's nothing left but lettuce to put in the salad. But somehow there always seems to be plenty of wine to go around.
Jack Nicholson as Bobby Eroica Dupea. [Online image] 1970.
