lettuces; both keep significantly longer at
32ºF/0ºC than at 40ºF/4ºC. There’s also a type
known as stem lettuce, or celtuce; it’s
especially popular in Asia for its prominent
and crisp stalk, which is stripped of its small
leaves, peeled, sliced, and cooked. Stem
lettuce and the solid core of leaf lettuces are
sometimes even candied.
Chicories and Endives: Bitterness Under
Control The original intense bitterness of
lettuce, which came from a terpene compound
called lactucin and its relatives, has been bred
out of the cultivated forms. But a number of
close lettuce relatives are cultivated and
included in salads or cooked on their own
especially to provide a civilized dose of
bitterness. These are plants in the genus
Cichorium, which include endive, escarole,
chicory, and radicchio. Growers go to a lot of
trouble to control their bitterness. Open
rosettes of escaroles and endives are often tied