ROMAINE LETTUCE

Romaine or cos lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. var. longifolia) is a variety of lettuce which grows in a tall head of sturdy leaves with a firm rib down the center. Unlike most lettuces, it is tolerant of heat. Romaine lettuce is full of the vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and fiber found in romaine lettuce are especially good for the prevention or alleviation of many common health complaints.

HISTORY

Native to the eastern Mediterranean region and western Asia, lettuce has a long and distinguished history. With depictions appearing in ancient Egyptian tombs, the cultivation of lettuce is thought to date back to at least 4500 BC. The ancient Greeks and Romans held lettuce in high regard both as a food and for its therapeutic medicinal properties.

In China, where lettuce has been growing since the 5th century, lettuce represents good luck. It is served on birthdays, New Year's Day and other special occasions. Christopher Columbus introduced varieties of lettuce to North America during his second voyage in 1493. Lettuce was first planted in California, the lettuce capital of the United States, by the Spanish missionaries in the 17th century. Its popularity across the US did not become widespread until centuries later with the development of refrigeration and railway transportation.

ORIGIN AND ETYMOLOGY

Most dictionaries trace the word cos to the name of the Greek island of Cos, from which the lettuce was presumably introduced. Other authorities (Davidson) trace it to the Arabic word for lettuce, خس khus
It apparently reached the West via Rome, as in Italian it is called lattuga romana and in French laitue romaine, hence the name 'romaine', the common term in American English. (Davidson)

FUN FACTS

But for much of the 20th century, romaine wasn’t known at all to many Americans. That’s because of the overwhelming success of iceberg lettuce, which can remain reliably crunchy (though incredibly bland) despite days if not weeks of shipping. As late as the mid-1970s, iceberg lettuce accounted for more than 95 percent of all of the lettuce grown in this country. Then along came the reborn Caesar salad. Invented in a Tijuana restaurant in the 1920s (which one is a subject of a bitter inter-familial dispute), for decades the Caesar kind of limped along in all of its garlicky glory as a California specialty. Then, all of a sudden, in the late 1970s it was “discovered” by the fast-food industry, often topped with very nontraditional grilled chicken, and there followed a couple of decades of extremely heady popularity. From almost nothing, by the mid ’90s, more than 16,000 acres of romaine was being grown. By 2000 that had increased to more than 60,000 acres and today it stands at more than 80,000.

DID YOU KNOW...

  • The earliest mention of lettuce in history is a carving on an Egyptian temple. Lettuce was considered an aphrodisiac in Egypt.

  • The Greeks used lettuce as a medicinal plant to induce sleep.

  • The Romans also grew lettuce. They cultivated a narrow leafed Cos/Romaine type lettuce, much like today's "Rabbit Ear" lettuce.

  • As so many other crops, lettuce was brought to us by Christopher Columbus.

  • The name lettuce and the botanical name Lactuca come from the Latin word lac. It means milk and refers to the milky sap inside lettuce leaves and stems.

  • Lactucarium is an opiate-like substance found in the milk of lettuce. It is also called “Lettuce Opium”. Supposedly it helps to induce sleep. And in my experience it does.

  • In some Asian countries lettuce is used as a cooked vegetable. Both the stem and leaves are used. There are even varieties of lettuce that are grown for the stem rather than the leaf.