Salads from around the world

Every civilization has eaten some mixture of raw indigenous vegetables as a health-giving part of its diet. Salads were originally the edible parts of various herbs and plants seasoned only with salt the Latin word ‘sal’, from which the word ‘salad’ derives. As time progressed, the composition of
salads became more varied.

As early as 1699 in England, John Evelyn’s Acetaria described ‘Sallets’ as ‘a composition of Edule Plants and Roots of several kinds, to be eaten raw or green, blanched or candied, simple and serfe, or intermingled with others according to the season’. Evelyn recommended that the ingredients of a salad be carefully selected to complement and balance each other.

Acetaria distinguishes between simple and combined salads, however it is in classic French cooking where this distinction has evolved fully. French salads are traditionally of two types: a simple salad of tossed lettuce or another single vegetable, usually served after the main course, and a more complex combination salad, served as a separate hors d’oeuvre or even a light main course in itself.

It is the combination salad that has developed in the United States of America into the increasingly popular main-course salad, which now features extremely diverse ingredients, including meat, seafood, cheese, nuts and grains. Although many salads contain these rather calorific ingredients, salads are fundamentally healthy because their basic ingredients are raw vegetables or fruits with their inherent vitamins and minerals intact.

CHOOSING AND STORING INGREDIENTS

Using raw ingredients as the basis of your dish means that good quality is essential! For salad making, always choose the best and freshest ingredients available. Although most fresh produce is now found, at a price, on supermarket shelves year-round, for quality and value buy produce during its growing season.

Fresh young asparagus in early summer, sunripened strawberries a little later on and crisp seasonal lettuce will always taste better than their forced greenhouse counterparts. The availability of root vegetables, grains, dried fruits and nuts in all seasons does enable you to make tasty salads throughout the year.

Once you have bought your ingredients, store them carefully. Salad vegetables should always be kept in a cool, dark place, preferably in a refrigerator. This will keep them firm and fresh. Fresh herbs last best in the refrigerator, either sprayed with water and placed in a polythene bag or standing in bowls of water.

Nuts are an excellent source of fibre and add crunch to salads. However, their shelf-life is relatively short because they have a high oil content, and can turn rancid. Buy nuts in small quantities, store them in airtight containers and use them quickly.

DRESSINGS

Dressings are an integral part of any good salad. They should always work together with the tastes of the salad ingredients, without being overpowering. In vinaigrette dressings, my personal ideal proportions are 3 parts oil to l part vinegar or citrus juice. However, you should experiment
and alter proportions to suit your own tastes. Many different oils are readily available. The most popular, olive oil, is used in many classic European recipes and is a monounsaturate, generally accepted as lower in cholesterol than, for example, the more exotic nut oils.

For the health-conscious, use light olive oil. The dressings in this book use traditional oils, such as olive and sunflower, as well as more unusual newcomers, such as hazelnut, walnut, chilli and sesame oils. You may like to prepare your own flavoured oils by adding some dried chillies, garlic, or herb sprigs to a bottle of oil. lf you do this, allow the flavours to develop for at least two weeks.

PREPARATION

Always ensure that all vegetables are washed before using. Washed salad leaves should be dried before dressing is added. The leaves will be crisper and the dressing will coat the leaves well. The best and quickest way to dry leaves is in a salad spinner, but a clean, dry linen towel can also be used to pat leaves dry.

lf using nuts, toast them in advance as this enhances their flavour. Dressings can also be made in advance and set aside for their flavours to develop and create a stronger taste. However, dressings should be added to the salad just before serving to prevent leaves from becoming soggy. An exception is with pasta, grain and rice salads, where adding the dressings to the warm, cooked base ingredient allows the ingredient to absorb the flavours without affecting the look of the salad.

PRESENTING YOUR SALAD

The visual appeal of food is a vital part of its enjoyment, so it is worth spending time on attractive presentation. Even the simplest side salad can be made decorative by careful slicing, an imaginative combination of colours and the arrangement of the ingredients on the plate.

Not all salads need to be tossed; you can arrange the ingredients on the plate, then pour or drizzle the dressing over. Garnishing your salad before serving will also enhance its visual appeal. Garnishes can vary from a single sprig of a herb to chopped herbs sprinkled over the salad, to a single extra
ingredient from the salad, such as a prawn in its shell or a spring onion tassel.

Finally, cooking and eating should be fun! Enjoy preparing and eating the salads detailed in the following articles, but do be flexible too and experiment with the almost infinite variety of beautiful and delicious ingredients available.

As we prepare the articles for salads from around the world, we will provide links to each article here:

All American Salads : American salad recipes
European Salads (coming soon)
Oriental Salads (coming soon)
Fruit Salads (coming soon)

Vegetarian, Raw food and Vegan with Bill & Sheila

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