Read This: Why You Should Eat More Iceberg Lettuce Saveur Issue 120

Among all the food magazines on the newsstands, Saveur continues to be one of our very favorites. More than any other magazine it seems to capture the ways that food touches on every part of cultural experience. The most recent issue, #120, has a lot to recommend it, but one of the best parts is a vigorous and charming defense of that much-maligned, purportedly tasteless, odorless, meritless vegetable: iceberg lettuce.

Why you should read it: Irene Sax writes a short history of iceberg lettuce and its rise and fall in American food culture: the phenomenally successful breed that let it be shipped cross-country and stay crispy; the much prized white leaves; the invention of the Cobb Salad. Iceberg lettuce before mesclun, endive and arugula. Then the dismissal of this watery, crispy lettuce as "empty of vitamins" (not actually true) and its subsequent fall from grace in American cooking.

But whereas Americans stopped eating iceberg lettuce so much, Asian cooks picked it up. It's a wonderful foil, says Sax, for some of the hot and spicy cooking of Vietnam and China, where it's even stir-fried on its own. (One of our favorite Asian-style dishes!) It's a milder substitute for cabbage and its firm structure is wonderful for wrapping ground meat.

Overall it's a fascinating snapshot of American agriculture, the rise and fall of a particular produce variety, and a fresh look at an often-dismissed vegetable that is actually quite delicious under the right circumstances.

Where you can read it: The Ice Queen at Saveur. Make sure you also read the tips and recipes that accompany the article, and if you have a chance, really read this one in the magazine itself.

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(Images: James Oseland/Andre Baranowski)

Comments (14)

I thought my dad's stir-fried iceberg lettuce was just one of his weird adapted-for-North-America concoctions. Who knew?

I like iceberg lettuce...it makes really tasty simple salads and the crispiness is especially refreshing.

i love it simpy boiled in water and drizzled with oyster sauce over it.

its also great shreded and add to fried rice at the end. or even to congee

Love the cooked lettuce fans!!! I bet you guys like cooked cucumbers too.

Sometimes a big wedge of iceburg with homemade blue cheese dressing, chunks of blue cheese and really good bacon can't be beat.

I remember working at a restaurant in SF and we were going to be serving Marion Cunningham and Alice Waters at the same table. Marion Cunningham was a big iceburg fan and Waters...not so much. We really wanted to serve some an iceburg salad (it would have been really cool at a four star restaurant) but were faced with this dilemma. I remember the chef trying to track down organic heirloom iceburg! I don't think we had any luck.

i'm obsessed with an iceberg wedge salad. i could eat that every day. love.

Wow, phyc0, I thought my old roomie was the only one who did that! I was pretty appalled the first time I saw it (largely because I loathe oyster sauce) but maybe I'll have to give cooked iceburg a try.

There is nothing better on a BLT than thick cut bacon, tomatoes from the garden, real mayo, white bread untoasted, and iceberg lettuce.

You are all making me so hungry! The wedge salad done right is excellent and great for summer barbeques.

I love to quarter a head of iceburg, pull out the core, slap in on the grill for just a moment to char the edges, then drizzle (or glop) with fresh homemade blue cheese dressing. YUMMY! and still a different riff on a classic. It's still the best crisp green on a sandwich or burger. It's great mixed in a mixed greens salad as it add wonderful texture. And it is beautiful as a garnish or for plating something that has a bit of juice that you don't want running all over the plate.

I'm Chinese American and my husband is not. My mother stayed with us when we had our first child and one night, she made dinner. We must have not had much in the refrigerator so she made one of her standards when I was grewing up - iceberg lettuce cooked with soy and oyster sauces. My husband loved it! He said 'who knew lettuce could be so delicious!'

You guys are cracking me up. Mostly because I'm sitting here cringing at all the stories of cooked iceberg lettuce! But I'm glad someone likes it. :-) I had no idea the white leaves had been "prized." They're the part I hate the most because of the watery, slightly bitter flavor. I don't do well with bitter flavors.

Though I admit, there's nothing like cold, shredded, crunchy iceberg lettuce as a foil to Mexican food. Nothing else really works.

when i was an impoverished student, i subsisted for days at a time on nothing but lettuce sandwiches. toasted bread, a slap of mayo, loads of black pepper, and lettuce. it was surprisingly tasty.

ditto on the BLTs! it's gotta be with iceberg!