I is for Iceberg Lettuce

Oh, iceberg lettuce-the much maligned and much loved leafy green.

Iceberg lettuce, a variety of crisphead lettuce, has been an American favorite for almost 100 years. It was developed by the Burpee Seed company in 1894 and was grown commercially in California starting in the 1920's. In the early shipping days, the lettuce heads were packed in ice and looked like icebergs, thus the name. With its firm head, it was the only lettuce that could be shipped easily and was widely distributed over the US by the 1940's.  Usually it was the only kind of lettuce that could be found at most grocery stores. 

However, in the last few years, more lettuce varieties have become available and iceberg is being disparaged as nutritional wasteland compared to its darker green cousins. And there is truth to that with iceberg lettuce containing about 1/20 the amount of vitamins of other varieties. Probably because of this knowledge, romaine has outpaced iceberg lettuce in sales to become number one. However, iceberg is still a strong second. Iceberg lettuce may be the guilty pleasure of the lettuce world with its crisp, mild tasting leaves. Nothing holds its crispness better on a sandwich or works better with a big dollop of Bleu cheese dressing.

If truth be told, I prefer iceberg lettuce to the healthier (but more bitter tasting to me) varieties, and it is my guilty pleasure. I was happy that I had an excuse to buy it for this post. :)

Did you grow up eating iceberg lettuce? Do you eat it now?

Sources:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/tip-of-the-iceberg-our-love-hate-relationship-with-the-nations-blandest-vegetable-9074175/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lettuce

https://www.verywellfit.com/does-iceberg-lettuce-have-any-nutritional-value-2506266

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2007-07-04-0706290893-story.html