22 Jan Finally! Praise for iceberg lettuce!

It will not surprise regular readers to know that Contrarian is the founder and charter member of the Iceberg Lettuce Anti-Defamation League, an organization dedicated to defending the iceberg’s humble, moist, crunchy goodness from calumny and abuse at the hands and tongues of self-appointed food snobs.

As you may imagine, this can be a lonely crusade. Thus it is with joy in our hearts (and thanks to Contrarian reader C.C.) that we offer membership to UK Guardian food columnist Tim Hayward for his recent, eloquent paean to the glories of the iceberg. Moneyquote:

[T]he iceberg… was the real revelation. When did I stop eating these things … and God help me, why?…

Iceberg was the perfect thing for a callow, show-off food lover to reject out of hand in favour of more nutritious romaine, the challenging bite of rocket, the briefly fashionable lamb’s lettuce, the honourably local butterhead or the frankly inexplicable appeal of frisee…

Iceberg was never about taste. It was about temperature, texture, and being a vehicle for other stuff. Suddenly I was like a man possessed. I couldn’t make iceberg BLT’s fast enough to feed my raging craving … I tried a series of experiments to see if I could emulate the peerless chicken katsu sarnie from Tsuru with iceberg. I made ranch dressing, and green goddess (though I confess I stopped short of Thousand Island – only a barbarian would put that stuff in his mouth).