Subject: [Homestead] mitigating the bitterness in bolting lettuce
Date: Tue, 03 Jul 2012 14:39:30 -0400
So, it's common knowledge that once lettuce bolts, it becomes bitter.
If one breaks off a leaf, a milky white liquid oozes out immediately.
Tasting this liquid - very bitter. This got me wondering if this liquid
was root cause of the bitterness, and whether it could be leached out.
Since I had a bed of mixed leaf lettuce which had gone to seed, and was
scheduled to be pulled out so the bed could be replanted, I did an
experiment: I removed all the decent-looking leaves, and soaked them in
cold water for a couple of hours. It seems to have worked - the soaked
and rinsed leaves are surprisingly palatable.
Has anyone done this before? A quick google search turned up nothing on
the subject.
-mark
[Homestead] mitigating the bitterness in bolting lettuce,
Mark Stutzman, 07/03/2012