Kitchencraft

Southland Times, Issue 23390, 23 December 1937, Page 15

Kitchencraft

GOOD SALADS (By SARAH) • AU ingredients for a salad must be as cold as possible. Those who do not possess a refrigerator may accomplish this by placing the lettuce, tomatoes, and other ingredients in a damp piece of muslin and hanging it in a cool, draughty place. The greens used, whether they be lettuce, cabbage, cress, spinach or beet tops, should be cold, crisp and dry. One cannot dry the leaves properly if the greens have been soaked. Soaking, too, destroys all food value, and should not be allowed. The materials used must be attractively cut and arranged. If the vegetables are to be diced, cut the cubes of even size, small, but not too small. If too small the salad has a messy appearance which is unattractive. Vegetables to be sliced should be done finely and evenly, taking pains not to break their contour. The arrangement of the lettuce leaves is most important, and only the light green, cupshaped ones taken from the heart of the lettuce should be used. A nest can be made from Either two small leaves or one big one, and should be arranged on a spotlessly-clean plate so that the hollow or nest faces the eater so that he can see at a glance the contents of the plate. The careful blending of colours will help make an attractive and appetising dish. It is a true saying that “The eye does half the eating.” COMBINE INGREDIENTS The combination of ingredients must blend in flavour and colour. For example, one would not have such a combination as tomatoes and beetroot, or carrot and beetroot, as the colours, of these vegetables do not harmonize. Again, it would not be correct to spoil a delicately-flavoured ingredient such as a chicken with a liberal amount of chives or spring onion, or to combine duck with any other fruit but orange. Garnishes should be dainty, suitable and attractive. The salad dressing serves as a garnish with all individual salads, and one must be careful first of all to prepare one thin enough to drop from a spoon, and yet thick enough

to hold its shape. One tablespoonful only should be placed on top of the ingredients, or at the side. Too much makes the salad top-heavy, the ingredients cannot be seen at a glance, and the appearance is messy. A dash of paprika and a tiny sprig of parsley completes the garnish. Paprika has the appearance of cayenne, but lacks any definite flavour. It is a wonderful garnisher, and I advise all housewives to stock it. It is cheap, as it lasts a long time, and its uses are numerous. DRESSINGS The ingredients of the salad should, combine with the other foods at the meal. The type of salad and dressing to serve at a meal depends entirely upon that meal and upon individual taste. The salad dressing for the average New Zealanders must be one that contains no oil. About the best dressings are the boiled Salad dressings, the magic salad dressing, and the cream dressing. A boiled dressing is excellent in that it is easy to prepare, possesses good-keeping qualities, and can be served with either a fruit or vegetable salad. It is naturally Lest for a vegetable salad if made with malt vinegar, but at *. pinch it can be used for all occasions. Magic dressing, on the other hand, is excellent for fruits, and for those who like a mild, sweet dressing. Cream dressing can be used to advantage, but for the town-dweller the price of cream makes this dressing too expensive. A salad may be an incidental to the main course, or it may be a separate course acting as an entree or a dessert. Again it may constitute the main course. If it is served as an incidental to the main course it should be small, very dainty, and the ingredients should blend in colour and flavour with the foods served with it. If, on the other hand, the salad is to be served as a separate course, either before or after the meat course, then it is best made out of greens only. The greens and vegetables should again be small in size.

On hot summer days a two-course dinner is very popular, and for those who are not particularly fond of desserts, or for those who apreciate a change, a fruit salad is a happy thought. Before placing the fruit in the lettuce leaves it should be well drained, and the dressing should be of the sweet, mild variety. A salad plate, a mixed salad bowl, or a larger individual salad may be served as the main course at a luncheon’, or even a dinner, if it be followed by a heavier type of dessert. A salad in summer indeed, may be said never to go amiss.