Lettuce, endive, and small salading, are the most commonly used, but there are many other greens which eat well, as salads. They should be fresh gathered, well washed, picked, and laid in water with a little salt in it. When you take them out, which should not be till just before they are wanted, shake them well, lay them in a cloth, shake that, to make them as dry as possible, but do not squeeze, for that will destroy their crispness.
In countries where salad is in more general request than in England, the greatest pains are bestowed to have it in perfection. It is essential to a good salad, that the leaves of lettuces should be crisp; and the French people shake them in a basket, made for the purpose, which answers better than anything. The French are justly famed for their salads, but the main cause of their superiority in them, is attributable to the abundance and goodness of both the oil and the vinegar used in the mixture.
To dress Salad.
Do not cut it up till you are going to mix it. Strew a little salt, and then pour over it, 3 table-spoonsful of oil to 1½ of vinegar, add a little pepper, and stir it up well with a spoon and fork. There ought not to be a drop of liquid at the bottom of the bowl. To this may be added hard-boiled yolk of egg, also beet root well boiled and sliced. Any kind of salad may be dressed in this way. Good oil is not dear, but exceedingly wholesome. The least degree of the flavour of garlic is liked by some in salad, and may be obtained by cutting open a clove and rubbing it a few times round the salad bowl. Some persons like a very little grated parmesan, in their salad.
Where oil is not liked, use oiled butter, or cream. Rub very smooth on a soup plate the yolks of hard-boiled eggs, with thick cream; when this is done, add more cream, or oiled butter, vinegar, pepper, and salt to your taste, and mix the salad in it: or pour the mixture into the bowl, the salad on the top, and do not stir it up at all, but leave this to be done at table.
The top of a dressed salad should be garnished with slices of beet root, contrasted with rings of the white of hard-boiled eggs; or a few young radishes and green onions, or cresses, tastefully arranged on the top. Plovers and sea birds' eggs may be laid on the top, arranging some herb to form each one's nest; or all in one nest, in the centre. A pretty salad is a great ornament to a table, and not an expensive one.
The following list may be imperfect, but though there may be other herbs which would be useful in salads, all these are good.
| Lettuce. Radishes. Water Cresses. Young Onions. Corn Salad. Endive. Celery. Mustard and Cress. Chervil. | Coriander. Tarragon. Nasturtiums. Sorrel. Young Spinach. French Fennel. Burnet. Basil. Chicory. |
The French make salads of cold boiled cauliflower, celery, French beans, and haricots. A mixture of either with some green herbs, dressed with oil, is very good; by way of variety.
Lobster Salad.