Romaine lettuce

Romaine or cos lettuce is a variety of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. var. longifolia) that grows in a tall head of sturdy leaves with firm ribs down their centers. Unlike most lettuces, it is tolerant of heat.

Origin and etymology

In English, the most common name in North America is "romaine", while elsewhere it is known as "cos lettuce". Many dictionaries trace the word cos to the name of the Greek island of Cos, from which the lettuce was presumably introduced. Other authorities trace cos to the Arabic word for lettuce, khus خس [xus].

It apparently reached the West via Rome, as in Italian it is called lattuga romana and in French laitue romaine, both meaning 'Roman lettuce', hence the name 'romaine', the common term in North American English.

Cuisine

In North American supermarkets, romaine is very widely available year-round.

The thick ribs, especially on the older outer leaves, should have a milky fluid which gives the romaine the typically fine-bitter herb taste.

Romaine is a common salad green, and is the usual lettuce used in Caesar salad. Romaine lettuce is commonly used in Middle Eastern cuisine.

Romaine

Romaine may refer to:

See also

Lettuce

Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) is an annual plant of the daisy family Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable, but sometimes for its stem and seeds. Lettuce was first cultivated by the ancient Egyptians who turned it from a weed, whose seeds were used to produce oil, into a food plant grown for its succulent leaves, in addition to its oil-rich seeds. Lettuce spread to the Greeks and Romans, the latter of whom gave it the name lactuca, from which the English lettuce is ultimately derived. By 50 AD, multiple types were described, and lettuce appeared often in medieval writings, including several herbals. The 16th through 18th centuries saw the development of many varieties in Europe, and by the mid-18th century cultivars were described that can still be found in gardens. Europe and North America originally dominated the market for lettuce, but by the late 20th century the consumption of lettuce had spread throughout the world.

Generally grown as a hardy annual, lettuce is easily cultivated, although it requires relatively low temperatures to prevent it from flowering quickly. It can be plagued with numerous nutrient deficiencies, as well as insect and mammal pests and fungal and bacterial diseases. L. sativa crosses easily within the species and with some other species within the Lactuca genus; although this trait can be a problem to home gardeners who attempt to save seeds, biologists have used it to broaden the gene pool of cultivated lettuce varieties. World production of lettuce and chicory for calendar year 2010 stood at 23 620 000/23,620,000 tonnes, half of which came from China.

Chance the Rapper

Chancelor Bennett (born April 16, 1993), better known by his stage name Chance the Rapper, is an American hip hop recording artist from the West Chatham neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. In 2013, he began to gain major recognition following the release of his second mixtape, Acid Rap. Chance is also a member of the Chicago collective SAVEMONEY with frequent collaborator Vic Mensa, and lead vocalist for the band The Social Experiment.

Life and career

1993–2010: Early life

Chance grew up as the oldest brother in the middle-class neighborhood of West Chatham in Chicago's South Side, his younger brother Taylor Bennett is also an aspiring young rapper. His father, Ken Williams-Bennett, was a prominent presence in the city: He first served as an aide to former Chicago mayor Harold Washington and then worked for Barack Obama, who was a senator at the time. Williams-Bennett, who is now a deputy chief of staff to Mayor Rahm Emanuel, dreamed that his son might one day hold office.