How Little Gem lettuce became the crown jewel of restaurant salads

The rise over the previous twenty years of Little Gem lettuce, which mixes traits of butter and romaine lettuces and resembles the smaller, tender inside leaves of a romaine head, may need been much less splashy than these of its forebears. Nevertheless it seems to be like this petite inexperienced is staying within the image. Since its introduction to American diners within the final quarter century, now you can discover Little Gem on restaurant menus from Atlanta to Los Angeles. And it’s more and more exhibiting up on grocery retailer cabinets.

To listen to cooks clarify what they like concerning the selection is to understand the lettuce — but additionally the care and consideration they provide to the smallest particulars of the substances they use to assemble dishes.

Chicago restaurateur Paul Kahan says the flavour of a lettuce is perhaps refined, however it’s not insignificant. “Romaine can have slightly astringency, however with Little Gem, you don’t get that,” he says. “It’s candy and grassy to me.”

Laurence Jossel, chef and proprietor of San Francisco’s Nopa, says the range balances nicely with a French dressing. “The sweetness means it will probably take an acid properly,” notes the chef, who instructs his employees to barely overdress Little Gems as a result of he finds the “juiciness” of the leaves barely dilutes the dressing.

Kahan additionally likes how Little Gems soften simply the correct amount when dressed, in contrast to romaine, which “can take a half-gallon of olive oil and nonetheless keep as stiff as cardboard.”

Each Kahan and Jossel additionally like that the range generates much less meals waste — one thing cooks respect for environmental and bottom-line causes. In contrast to another sorts of lettuce, you don’t must trim a lot on the root, there aren’t any powerful outer layers to discard, and recent heads maintain up comparatively nicely, lasting just a few days with out wilting or browning in a walk-in fridge.

Little Gem’s origins are a bit murky, however it seems to have come from France, and first turn into well-liked in Europe and in the UK. It typically goes by the title Sucrine, which is rooted within the French phrase for “sugar.” Mentions of Little Gem within the English-language media earlier than the early 2000s are principally discovered within the British press. In a uncommon exception, a neighborhood information story from 1989 mentions Little Gem as an obscure addition to the Cornell Cooperative Extension checklist of really useful vegetable varieties for New York.

It’s nigh not possible to pinpoint a “Affected person Zero”-style second when the lettuce hopped the pond into U.S. eating places. However the story of how Kahan was launched to the product tracks with the obvious migration sample: Not lengthy after he opened the primary location of Avec in 2003, he invited his buddy, the influential British chef Fergus Henderson, to guest-host a dinner. Henderson despatched him the menu forward of time, and Kahan set about procuring provides, together with the required Little Gems.

“I had no concept what the hell they have been,” he mentioned. “They have been laborious to search out, however I finally acquired some for the dinner.” The Chicago chef wound up liking them a lot he put a Little Gem salad on his personal menu, after enlisting a neighborhood farmer to develop them for him. Kinnikinnick Farm, situated simply south of the Wisconsin border in Illinois, tried out the range and has been rising them ever since, he says.

The range loved early reputation in California, too, the place so many vegetable traits take off; Alice Waters, the chef and proprietor of Chez Panisse and the lady in line for canonization because the patron saint of salads, was one other early adopter. So was Judy Rodgers of the legendary San Francisco restaurant Zuni Cafe. A 2004 travel story in the Los Angeles Times described a salad there: “Slices of Saveloy sausage have been complemented with pristine little gem lettuce, fava beans and tiny radish discs, all bathed in a caper-shallot French dressing.”

And Jossel has had a salad that comes with Little Gem on his menu constantly since Nopa opened in 2006. His preparations differ relying on the season and what’s out there. An early iteration was “loosely impressed” by meals author Elizabeth David, he remembers, along with her English-style entire egg dressing represented by bits of hard-boiled eggs, mixed with such spring substances as radish and chives wearing a creamy herb French dressing with toasted breadcrumbs. He’s now serving it in a easy preparation atop an avocado puree, he says.

Now, dwelling cooks are discovering its versatility. Robert Schueller, director of public relations at nationwide distributor Melissa’s Produce, has seen elevated demand from cooks within the final three years, and notes that much more just lately, extra grocers have been stocking it, too. “Within the final yr customers have actually began to turn into extra acquainted with the merchandise at retail grocery store shops,” he says in an electronic mail.

Whereas restaurateurs typically enlist native suppliers to develop Little Gems, large-scale industrial manufacturing is centered in Salinas, Calif., Schueller says.

Beloved by cooks and more and more by dwelling cooks, Little Gem additionally has traits growers like, as nicely, says Joe Masabni, an affiliate professor and extension vegetable specialist at Texas A&M College. He notes that it’s compact and reaches maturity extra rapidly than many different lettuce varieties, which means producers can flip round extra of it. “It’s preferrred for hydroponics,” Masabni says, “which is the best way plenty of industrial lettuce is grown.”

Like many who encounter the range, Masabni additionally delights within the aptness of its title. In lots of instances, “Every leaf is like the dimensions of a tablespoon,” he notes, and for individuals who haven’t tried rising or consuming it, “it’s an undiscovered gem.”

For Jossel, the proof that Little Gem has arrived? “No person has to ask what they’re anymore,” he says. “We don’t even must say ‘Little Gem lettuce’ — it’s simply ‘Little Gem.’”