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Mixed Young Salad Greens
Mesclun
Appears in
Published 2002
In the early 1970s at Chez Panisse, I smuggled in seeds from France and had them grown for us, little edible greens and wild greens to make a mix of various leaves. The southern French word mesclun means just that, “a mix of wild greens.” The concept, now ubiquitous and misunderstood, is one of the major culinary sins that can be laid at my feet.
I say “misunderstood” because, as mesclun began to appear in every supermarket and farmers’ market, each purveyor thought that in order to get an edge on the competition, and because of America’s undying belief that more is always better, they would dump into the mix any leaf that was colorful or new, regardless of whether or not it was desirable for the flavor, and certainly not because it was wild.