It got me thinking & nipping out for some tomatoes,cucumber & little gems to go with a massive pork pie for lunch.
Got everything at a reasonable price in Aldi...oh dear a German supermarket group...but they're all British produce - phew!! Chowing down on my salad took me back to bygone summers....& how much i HATED it when my mam announced salad for tea. It was just something to fill up my plate...i'd have much preferred more roast ham or another slice of my mams bacon & egg pie.
In those days there were STRICT SALAD RULES:
1) YOU ONLY ATE SALADS IN THE SUMMER.
2) YOU ONLY ATE SALADS AT TEATIME (USUALLY THE WEEKEND).
3) IF IN A POSH RESTAURANT ON A WINTER LUNCHTIME ITS POSSIBLE TO
IGNORE THE ABOVE RULES BY ORDERING A SIDE SALAD - BUT WHY WOULD YOU?
4) ALL SALADS TO BE COMPOSED OF NO MORE THAN 5 INGREDIENTS:
THAT WILTY ENGLISH LETTUCE - SOMETIMES MAYBE COS "Hey this is crunchy" LETTUCE.
TASTELESS TOMATOES...UNLESS YOU HAD A GREENHOUSE.
HARD BOILED EGG.
(THICK) SLICES OF CUCUMBER
A SALAD 'GUEST' - SPRING ONION, BEETROOT (oh no! pink everything), RADISH ETC
5) TOTAL HORROR WHEN THAT SALAD GUEST WAS HEINZ POTATO SALAD OR HEINZ VEGETABLE SALAD WE'RE TALKING SALADS IN TINS HERE!!!! GLUEY, MUSHY & TASTING OF SICK!
6) UNLESS YOU WERE MIDDLE CLASS THE ONLY 'SALAD DRESSING' WAS SALAD CREAM THANKS AGAIN HEINZ!
7) ARE YOU GETTING MY DRIFT - SALAD WAS A DISH TO BE ENDURED NOT ENJOYED!
Back to summer 2011 & salads are a total adventure: Hello spinach! Hello rocket! Hello pea shoots!
Right but i'd still like an English style salad to accompany British summer foods like rare roast beef, brown sugar roast ham, pork pie, bacon & egg pie, cold Cumberland sausage etc etc.
Bye bye wilty lettuce, replace with a mix of little gem, romaine lettuce & spinach leaves, ignore cheap tasteless tomatoes wait for those intense Blackpool/Fylde tomatoes or chop some plum or vine toms, finely slice red onion or spring onion, peel, deseed & chop some cucumber then toss with an olive oil & wine vinegar dressing flavoured with English mustard, celery salt & black pepper.
Add some carbs with a warm potato salad - oven roast some halved new potatoes in seasoned olive oil, cool a little, then toss in a mix of fresh snipped ( with scissors - duh! ) chives, mayo, sour cream & garlic.
Salads are exciting, no longer depressing... dont dodge them!
**** Next post Patsy makes some salad dressings - Hey! They had salads in the war!
*** Had a day out in Halifax (FAB! Visit it!) got an old American salad cookbook. WOW! These salads are beyond repulsive will share soon.
Ugh, tinned potato salad! I remember that and the potato was either mushy or a bit undercooked. Truly vile.However, a vegetable related question...
ReplyDeleteWhat can I do with Rocket other than put it in a salad? It has overtaken my garden, like a Triffid, knocks your head off it's so strong, so Chef what can I do?
hello hello? is that you juney? im very envious cos my rocket died...basically you can use rocket like spinach...as a green veggie just wilt it in a lidded pan over a low heat...drain any liquid add seasoning, butter or olive oil & garlic. add to just cooked pasta along with a stir in sauce & some grated cheese...use instead of watercress in a watercress & potato soup (recipes on the net) or add at the last minute to minestrone or tomato soup
ReplyDeletedont forget rocket is a relative of triffid so handle with care!