The wonders of a simple salted salad

Salad is a beautifully simple American food. Its powerful allure draws the enthusiasm of vegetarians, meat-eaters and dieters alike for the bitter taste of fresh leafy greens atop lush slices of summer tomato. As simple and delicious as salad can be, it is often wrongfully prepared and asunder from original context. Hopefully, with greater public awareness of history and culture, we can end America’s misinterpretation of the salad and allow it to be great once again.To begin, a brief history.u u uThe English word “salad” comes from the Latin root word “sal”, which means salt.The words for “salt” and “salad” are intimately connected in European languages, because salad is literally defined as “salted vegetables.” Other European languages sharing a linguistic connection between the words for salt and salad include:English = salt > saladSpanish = sal > ensaladaItalian = sale > insalataPortugese = sal > saladaGerman = saltz > salatMore important is the reason why salt and salad are so closely connected.According to Western Civilization’s food philosophy, eating raw foods is considered barbaric and uncivilized. Raw foods mark an uncivilized society, because raw foods did not go through a process of culturing before a civilized eater consumes.Most commonly, this process of culturing food is achieved through cooking, but in the case of salad, it is achieved through the use of salt.Cooking with heat is one way to civilize raw food. Marinating in acids, like lemon or lime juice, is another way to “cook” foods away from raw and into the civilized. Adding pro-biotics to raw milk, when making yogurt, is another. Salting is the preferred method for salad.When salting salad we partake in this process of transforming the uncivilized raw into the civilized cooked. Salt breaks down the fibrous vegetables to make them softer, more palatable and easier to digest. More importantly, salt brings salad into civilization, for without salt, raw vegetables would still be wild, untamed, and barbaric.Oil is a crucial ingredient for salad as well. Nothing defines Western food culture more than oil, and most specifically, olive oil. The Greek and Roman empires, as well as the French culinary genius of haute cuisine, all relish a prideful love affair with olive oil. The reasons are expansive and mystical, and specifically to salad, are essential for the culturing process between vegetable and salt. Functionally, olive oil helps salt to stick to raw vegetables, thereby allowing the transformation of civilization to be more even, tasteful and effective. Without olive oil, most salt would roll off the leafy greens, rendering itself worthless.Olive oil helps digestion once inside our bodies, as the fat allows for absorption of vitamins and minerals. Without oil, much of the vegetable’s nutrition would be lost, as the body is unable to tame the roughage of raw ingredients without the civility of olive oil.u u uThe final ingredient in salad is the vinegar or lemon juice to complement the olive oil and salt. The magic ratio of oil to vinegar is 4-1, meaning 4x as much oil is needed as vinegar. Make sure to use enough oil to touch all the leafy greens, but not too much to make it heavy and saturated. Exactly how much? It depends on the size and type of salad, and as with all skills in life, practice makes perfect.Instructions for the perfect salad:1) Mix fresh greens with olive oil & vinegar at 4-1 ratio2) Add salt and mix again3) Allow to stand 5 minutesThe fresh greens must rest for 5 minutes after being salted, allowing time for the salt to “cook” them into softer, tastier, and more easily digestible food. If followed, these instructions will allow Americans to eat salad appropriately, to dress salads correctly for a higher consciousness of our food history. Doing so will not only provide the experience of how our ancestors ate, but why, and for what reasons.The tragedy of American salad is a tale of thick textures and sharp vinegar, of over-dressed vegetables and tasteless iceberg lettuce. Carrots cut too wide, tomatoes without a soul, and bell peppers coated with wax. A tragic tale of ranch dressing and bleu cheese dressing being a vehicle of obesity, of Caesar’s proud name being slandered with xantham gum and yellow No. 5. Italian grandmother recipes never include high fructose corn syrup or calcium disodium edta, no matter how “zesty” they are, nor should Russians get blamed for mixing ketchup, mayonnaise, relish and sugar into a goopy pink mess.America needs to resurrect salad to the proud platform of culinary beauty it deserves, and it all starts with a pinch of salt.Aaron Zweig is director of the Food Studies program and a history teacher at the Marvelwood School in Kent, a veteran restaurant cook and an experienced organic gardener. He holds a master’s degree in Food Studies from New York University.