Quote of the Day

"Dispensing with the endless instructions for lettuce salads in cookbooks she says that “It seems to me that there are only three absolutely essential rules to be observed: the lettuce must be very fresh; the vinegar in the dressing must be reduced to the absolute minimum; the dressing must be mixed with the lettuce only at the moment of serving”. An admirably concise and succinct description of a much mangled task. Her friend Sybille Bedford noticed that “she always mixed salad with her hands, saying that this was the only way that every leaf was properly covered with dressing”. As for dressings; “however mild the vinegar, I prefer lemon juice, and very little of it”. Elizabeth next makes a swingeing attack, concluding with a typically tart finale: “The grotesque prudishness and archness with which garlic is treated in this country has led to the superstition that rubbing the bowl with it before putting the salad in gives sufficient flavour. It rather depends whether you are going to eat the bowl or the salad.”

From Elizabeth David, the superb biography by Lisa Chaney