Mâche of the Salad

Saucyman – You seem to like salad, so what can you tell me about mâche? I think it is part clover, my girlfriend thinks it is good, what can be done about this? Saladgrazer

Mâche, AKA lamb’s lettuce, AKA corn salad/lettuce or known to the select few as valerinaella locusta is a leafy green annual, native to the Mediterranean. A low growing hearty plant that paradoxically produces tender green leaves and is frost resistant – Now available year round but historically the greens have been a cold weather staple.

The green is said to be lamb’s lettuce due to its likeness to a lamb’s tongue. The reference to corn is because the plant readily volunteers itself among corn stalks. Mâche is related to both catnip and valerian – even though the plant picks up nicknames like NFL players collect felonies, the greens have avoided being tagged with a cat or nap diminutive. All the various names are very confusing: imagine a menu that offered a Cobb salad made with corn lettuce – what you expect? So most people now use the French, mâche to avoid any confusion.

As far as the clover goes, how do you know what clover tastes like? As far as the mâche, for such a small leaf, the plant packs flavor compounds – fruity esters, the fungi flavoring octenols and the lemon-rich citronellol. Perhaps a flowery, mushroomesque, citrusy green has too much going on, mixing the mâche with a neutral lettuce like Bibb or a slightly bitter one like red-leaf could, maybe, possibly mitigate the clover field taste.

My advice - eat your lettuce. Tell yourself you are doing it for the vitamins A & C, for the potassium. Eat your mâche because the greens are 93% water, which means you can hydrate with a 6 oz salad in a far more dignified manner than drinking out of a Sigg bottle like it's an adult sippy cup. If you have to put your foot down…would you rather assert yourself of what type of salad you are eating or getting dragged to IKEA on Saturday morning (BTW – try this: Do I make you go to Home Depot with me every time I need light bulbs?). Eat your mâche because your sweetie enjoys it and do you really want to do destroy that by reminding her how you feel about it each and every time the salad bowl comes out.

Get involved: Make a vinaigrette – hazelnut oil, orange or lemon juice with salt and pepper and pack a lunch for your girlfriend – encourage her to get her mâche on at lunch AND win points for being thoughtful. Plus if you are a good sport about the mâche most of the time, occasionally when you want to get BBQ and beer or pick up Popeye’s and watch basketball, you are going to be granted your wish.