American · Appalachian · salad

Killed Lettuce with Ramps

Killed Lettuce with Ramps reads richness 7.0, umami 6.6 and salinity 6.1 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a American · Appalachian salad, about 23 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

• Umami & Savory — 7.3 / 10
• Sweet & Fruity — 4.9 / 10
• Sour & Bright — 4.6 / 10
• Bitter & Earthy — 4.5 / 10
• Rich & Fat — 7.0 / 10
• Aromatic & Spice — 3.4 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Richness 7.0 · Umami 6.6 · Salinity 6.1 · Sweetness 4.9 · Sourness 4.6 · Smoke 4.2 · Allium 3.0 · Herbaceous 2.2 · Warm Spice 1.7 · Funk & Ferment 1.5 · Heat 1.0 · Bitterness 1.0 · Earthy 0.9

What's in it (9)

• leaf lettuce — 280 g
• ramps — 120 g
• bacon — 115 g
• apple cider vinegar — 44 g
• sugar — 13 g
• salt — 5 g
• black pepper — 5 g
• spring onions — 45 g
• eggs — 110 g

Time & effort: about 23 min · effort: medium

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 77.2 kcal, 4.9 g protein, 4.2 g fat, 4.6 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains egg — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (8 steps)

1. Killed lettuce is a spring dish with a fixed calendar: it needs the first tender leaf lettuce out of the garden and it needs ramps, and those two things overlap for about three weeks in April. Hot bacon grease is poured over the raw leaves and they collapse — killed, wilted, but not cooked — and the salad is eaten immediately, standing up, before it goes limp.
2. Ramps are Allium tricoccum, the wild leek of the eastern mountains, and there is no substitute: they carry a garlic pungency and an oniony sweetness at once, with a slight muskiness that neither leeks nor spring onions have. They appear at Appalachian farmers' markets and specialty greengrocers from late March through April and several West Virginia and North Carolina growers ship them. Harvest sustainably or buy from someone who does — wild stands are being dug out faster than they regrow, and cutting one leaf and leaving the bulb is now the recommended practice.
3. Wash the lettuce, dry it very thoroughly and tear it into a wide heatproof bowl. Wet leaves will steam rather than wilt. Scatter the spring onions over.
4. Render the bacon in a heavy skillet over medium heat, 8 minutes, until crisp and the fat has run. Lift the pieces out with a slotted spoon and scatter them over the lettuce, leaving all the fat in the pan.
5. Throw the sliced ramp bulbs into the hot fat and cook 2 minutes, just until they soften and smell sweet. Add the ramp leaves and let them go 30 seconds.
6. Pour in the cider vinegar and sugar and let it hiss and bubble 1 minute, scraping the pan.
7. Pour the whole boiling contents of the skillet over the lettuce and toss hard for about a minute — the leaves will collapse to a third of their volume and go glossy and dark. Season with the salt and pepper, top with the quartered eggs and eat it straight away.
8. Substitutions: streaked meat can stand in for the dry-cured bacon.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

• Kartoffelsalat (Potato Salad) — German
• Bacon-Wrapped Meatloaf with Ketchup Glaze — American
• Maple-Glazed Meatloaf Minis with Bacon — American
• Ham and Bean Soup — American
• Kielbasa and Cabbage Stew — Eastern European

Keep reading: what richness, umami, salinity mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.