RETRO RECIPE: Salade de laitue

This treasure from Tante Marie’s turn of the century cookbook, Cuisine de Famille, is called Lettuce Salad. So let us salad.

(Translated from the French)

This salad must be made with care, because in the cavities and folds of the lettuce leaf, you will often find insects. You have to remove them, as you must also remove the larger leaves from the outer core of the lettuce head. Wash all the leaves well. Once you’ve removed the big leaves, you will arrive at the heart of the lettuce. Leave that heart the size of an egg, then cut it into quarters. Let the leaves dry, put them in a salad bowl with finely chopped tarragon and decorate with hard-boiled eggs. Season with salt, pepper, oil and vinegar. Bon appetit!

Because so much of human history, and family memory, revolves around food, we’re introducing Retro Recipe — a new, and we hope regular, feature that looks at the cookbooks and family recipes of previous generations in a bid to better understand our bellies and its buttons.

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