New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-06-21
BY MRS. BAYARD TAYLOR.

4
but will stick TO my promise and talk 10 you "oO"
| salads before close my letters Of advice.
There are raw salads and cooked salads ana mAeu
salads But lettuce Is the salad par exoehenoo a"
cannot be recommended sufficiently for It's reiresmns
| and cooling qualities. Cooked vegetables 10" a"u
meats when made into salads, either by themselves
| or mixed can be made very tempting; but TOT a
healthy diet would recommend only the green salads
and the cooked vegetables simply dressed ineS
Weld material for a large variety OF salads ana sNo
| you an opportunity for testing your talent
In orr country with It's succuent vegetables, green
salad is not yet introduced generally as IL observes
During our hot summers especially IL ought TO De paro
of the principal meal, at least Brillatsavarn says
"salad refreshes without deblating ana comforts
without irritating. in the habit OF saying tnaC
A. IL retuvenating' We find. however, much carrier
appreciation Of salad-the lactuca OF the Roinsns-h
Greek authors where it is praised rs fortylhB Uo
| stomach, soothing and favorng sleep.
This latter by-theby reminds me Of little incident
| occurring years ago. Il JuneHme We sveh
in the country and had a guest at table-a dis
tne1h she'd general At dinner had served with TIE
roast lettuce salad which fresh from the garden
| and prepared and dressed with my own hands, as
| Thought, in the most tempting was But wneh
offered our guest declined to take II, remarKng tha'
the opium contained in the lettuceleaves was apt to
| make him inopportunely drowsy. This was news 10
! me; nor do find it stated anywhere that OPIUM
really exists in lettuce The milky juice OF the stem
because resembling that Of poppies seems 70 nave "
TO this belief. This juice most likely, Is the Vehcio
for the nutrfives contained In salad, and the freser
the latter the juicer, and consequently the moro
nutritious it is. According to Liebig lettuce has OF
alkaes 20 TO "a per cent Of It's dry substances But
when we consider that 1t has "a parts Of water In
every 100 we cannot place II very high as nutntVe'
Its usefulness like that Of other green and vegeaole
salads lies in another direction. as indicated ABOVE
while the defect Of IL, and OF all Of them Is easily
remedied IL add the foodmatters they are oenc'en'
in. The best accompaniment therefore, for green
salad Is eggs in any form you please ana is tnere
prettier sight on the table than dish full Of green
cnrly leaves of lettuce set off with quarters of hard
| boiled eggs
Aside from lettuce we have herbs for salad. An
| old parchment volume Of 1901 in my possession
enumcrates sixy-two kinds of them for famous nero
salad would not want you to go TO that eA'eho'
nor would You be able to procure most OF them IN our
days merely wish 70 call your attention to certain
tender herbs which markets now afford. Tney
are principally watercress peppergrass, field salad,
borage chlcory dandeon, and they make nice SAND
| each by ITSELF as we'll intermXed ad hbitum'
They also garnish beautifully every kind OF saiad'
| The dandeiOu In It's wild state makes wnoleSonle
salad in the spring when the first fresh shoots appear
on meadows and fields and You dig for the plant deep
enough 30 get part OF the The tender coverlik
leaf of the oxais Coxal acetosella which are to be
found in the woods during the summer. Will also flr
nish you with slightly acid and refreshing salad Inc
following herbs are what the French call fournuree
de salads" (requireIents for salad) Watercress' pep
pergrass chervt caves taragon pimpernelle garden
burncO balm mint and borage Add to all these the
! orange tinted flowers OF nasturtium and the DUO
aoyverets of borage which you may either make into
salad nv themselves, dressing them with OIL vinegar
and salt or use for garuish, and you must acKnowl
edge that You never need be In trouble about having
refreshing and even artistic dish OF salad on your
table To Italians who extremely fond OF eaad
use for it almost anything green they can hnd "nen
IN Northern Italv once in early spring, met during
| nv walk a little blackeyed peasant girl hlinS ber
anron f of the sprOuting shoots of clemaus growing
| on a hedge l curously inquired the purpose Oh H.
IN which she replied: Per far msalata' NO haho
salad o. But the French were the first TO excel
in salad making Many distinguished Frenchman
pdded himself on his proficiency IN this art ana ieo
mo fell Won herr OF my belief, that 1t takes gentle
| man or q lady 10 make really good salad. when
the French revolution drove the artstocrats ron te
| country some OF them made their living ana even
| their fortunes-iko d'Alblgnac-by tho making Of
salads.
| "Tu sails que pour Ia salade
| TAI les SONS dun emigr."
| lyon know have for the salad
| The emigrant's subtlest cares)
writes Noneelct in Gle diner que 10 veux fare' Cthe
| dinner want II devised
To dress a salad IS not as easy task as you mlgHV
think The so-called French dressing Of oil. VINE
gar and salt seems to be such simple affair; out
unle,s YOU take each OF these elements In exactly the
right proportion to each other and the salad 10 DO
dressed the result will not be the desired one 10 De
| an expert von have 10 divine by instinct now much
10 take OF each never allow servant even 10 Uo"ct
the leaves of the salad have served al taDe' ror "
have the salad to perfection the touch must DO hs'
the fingers 10 trim and arrange must be nimbe. Fse
| take leaf by leaf, throwing away the outside anu
| all
~ for uSe then put them In deep dish fu OIL cola
water 10 rinse them, By one transferring teni IL
the same time into large colander ms zone, ttSe
the latter with both hands and toss the saad hghuy
mn and down In It, which will free 1t from the water
| attaching TO the leaves. Now put the colander on
,a,o and remove the whole the refrigerator but do
~ 10, IL come in contact with the ice. which would
chill tie salad such degree as to roo u Oh It's cha
acterstc flavor There you leave II stanong ior an
hour or until near dinner time when IL VIII nave
turned deliciousy crisp. Then take up once more leaf
| after leaf dividing the larger ones carefully INTO
halves and arranging them IN a salad bowl, wreath
within wreath, like fullulown rose 1t VIII depend
IN your skin and inspiration TO vary your salad by
ntermngllng or earnisbing it with one OF more NERDS
Of darker green the white and yellow Of eggs the
tender pink OF radshes the pale green OF thnly sliced
cncumbers the flowers Of nasturtiun, etc. etc. sup
pose YOU have this TO your satisfaction, you put
your salad-bowl more In the refrigerator, with
distinct orders 10 it there until the time comes
for placing it on the table, 10 be dressed dexteronsy
with your own hands 20 the delight Of your husband
and your guests II guests there be- AS to the dressing
itself | have Told you already that instinct VIII have
10 teach you moro than any recipe can do, but, In
general sense recommend the following proper
tions for plain French dressing; Take for heaped
soup.pate full Of salad a saspoonful Of saf three
tables oonfuls Of oil and one tablespoonful Of vine
gar Put the salt ia your spoon first, then the
| oil: mix the two with your salad fork. and
| pour over the salad: then mix with the latter
and after adding the vinegar mix again thoroughly
II the vinegar is not very sharp, edd the Juice Of half
| a lemon. A sprinkle Of white pepper mixed in with
the oil Is also recommendable well a slight ad
dition Of mushroom catsup mixed in with the vinegar
| II you wish to dress yOur green salad with mayon
naise best TO put the latter in the bottom Of the
salad bowl and TO arrange the salad on top Of IL, al
lowing the sauce 10 show In the centre. In that