Evening star., 1909-08-29
GREEN FOOD FOR HEALTH
VEGETABLE SALAD BEST DIET
FOR HOT WEATHER.
Eat Lettuce and Cress and Things
Of That Kind When the Days
and Nights Are Sultry.

1nSrc IS SOOQ redSOH SuppOSiHe
that Nebuchadnezxer was the first really
conscientious vegetarian; anyhow. he
made salads popular. and for this. II fol
no other reason, his name should be held
In high honor.
Every year when the hot spell comes
round we are told with more or less en-
phasis that we ought to eat more salads
for they are healthy, cooling and salts
flying. Grass is perhaps somewhat
generic term. and should really include
lettuce in It's many varieties as well as
nearly all vegetables. green and other.
wise.
Many otherwise quite worthy folk
seem to think that salad means lettuce
only, and so widespread is this Ignorant
misconception that one may ask fot
salad In almost any greengrocer
shop and be served with lettuce-and per-
haps a tumble of mustard and cress
Salad, however, Is a generic term. and
according to some authorities owes 1ts
origin to the word salt, implying some
thing that cannot be eaten or satisfac.
torily enjoyed without the addition OF
more or less salt. This is as may be
Anyhow. almost anything In the vege-
table kingdom may be made into salad
excepting always" as french che1
once said, Cigar ash and horse-chest'
nuts"
"Green Meat"
Sir Thomas Browne. In the "Religic
Medici," says:
''I could digest salad gathered in g
churchyard as well as in garden.
wonder not at the French. with theiI
dishes of frogs. snails and toadstools; mol
at the Jews for locusts and grasshoppers
but being among them make them my
common viands. and / find they agree
with my stomach as well as theirs"
That the eating Of green meat is, and
always has been. bound up with healthy
human life scarcely needs argument
even Chaucer knew that 1t would RE-
fresh their great unkindly heat, and
Shakespeare's Jack Cade remarks that a
salad "is not amiss to cool a mans
stomach in the hot weather" Cleopatra
too, refers to her salad days." when
she was green in judgment, cool In
blood"
In Cogan's Haven Of HEALTH written
in 1850. 1t is said that
Lettuse Is much used in salets In the
summer TYNE with vinegar. oyle, and
sugar and salt. and is formed to procure
appetite for meate, and to temper the
heate of the stomach and liver.
1t is idle to say didactically what Is
weather. A man or woman of sense will
eat that for which he or She feels in.
clined. and will have the requisite gas
trOnomic gumptiOn to avoid heating
dishes which become instinctively un-
seasonable and unpalatable. With al
changes Of the weather. sensible people
accommodate their diet to the meteoro-
logical conditions. In the height of a
self-respecting and decently hot summer
fish is naturally preferred to meat. and
cooling juices are just what we yearn to
daily with when our appetites are 8
little under the weather. All this is, OF
course, automatic.
A Few Hints.
When Pope sixtus v was an obscure
monk he had a great friend In a certain
what time the monk rose TO the papacy
The poor lawyer journeyed to Rome te
seek aid from his old friend the pope
but he fell sick by the wayside and told
his doctor to let the pope know of hi:
state. II will send him salad sale
Sixtus, and duly dispatched a basket OF
lettuces to the invalid. When the let
tuces were opened money was found ~
their hearts. Hence the italian proverh
one of Sixtus VS. salads
To those who ignorantly imagine that
lettuce Is the be-all and end-all Of salad.
save perhaps for the addition OF bucolic
beetroot or the fiannel-grown cress. the
following hints may not be unacceptable:
Potatoes, cold. in slices. plentifully be-
sprinkled with peas and a few broad
beans. Or, again, red cabbage and Gu
cumber. or French beans all by them
selves. Or tomatoes and cucumber, or
merest suggestions. and they can be
adapted and multiplied indefinitely. AS
to the mixture or dressing" that must
necessarily be left to individual choice:
some people prefer a preponderance OF
vinegar, others (and they are the more
knowledgable) think that three spoonfuls
Of the very best olive oil to one of red
wine vinegar is the right proportion. To
this the addition of salt, pepper. mustard.
ETC., is a matter of taste. There are even
those who advocate mayonnaise sauce,
and in America 1t Is considered a neces-
sity Now, unless mayOnnaise is per-
fectly prepared according to the highest
tradition of the veritable kitchen, with
the newest of new-laid eggs and the most
refined of firSt-presSure olive oil, IT is a
fraud. delusion and snare. AS to
those who anoint their salads with a sort
of ready-made furniture polish in convo-
luted bottles they are long past praying
for.
Good Oil a Necessity.
The late Sir Henry Thompson was an
authority on salads. as on most matters
gaStrOnOIlCal. mere Is Ills pIcSSi ~
ton: Mixing one saltspoonful of salt and
half that quantity OF pepper in table
spoonful which Is to be filled three times
with the best fresh olive oil. stirring each
briskly until the condiments have
been thoroughly mixed. and at the same
time distributed over the salad: this is
next to be tossed thoroughly but lightly
until every portion glistens. scattering
meanwhile a little finely chopped fresh
tarragon and chervil. with a few atoms
of chives over the whole. SO that spark.
ling green particles spot. as with a pat.
tern. every portion OF the leafy surface
Lastly. but only Immediately before serv.
ing. one small tablespoonful of mild
French. or. better still. italian red-wine
vinegar. is to be sprinkled over all. fol
lowed by another tossing of the salad.
It will have been noticed that grea,
stress has been laid upon having really
good oil. There Is only one kind-the
best The olive oil of Lucca. of Nice. OF
Provence is usually reliable If bought OF
a responsible dealer. Really good oil
should be clear, nutty, fresh and prac-
tically odorless. Many base limitations
are on the market made from cotton
seed oil, and even less appetizing things
Avoid them all; they are pernicious
The difference in cost Is trifiing. and the
gain to the salad immense. If good wine
needs no bush, then good oil needs no
substitute.