I know I’ve mentioned this before, but the etymology of words always drives me nuts! Take Lamb’s ears as a case in point.

My neighbour across the way had recently returned from a vacation in France, and she was telling me that they ate mâche quite a bit. (In fact, Aileen also noted that the French seemed to eat quite a bit just in general.) She said they also called these greens “corn salad,” something I had never heard, but I knew she was talking about the salad green I usually think of as lamb’s lettuce or lamb’s ears, terms she had not heard.

While I was doing some “field” work for an earlier article on mesclun, I noted that on one of the many packets of mesclun seeds I had purchased, “corn salad” was listed.  I may have let it rest then, but just this weekend at the farmers’ market, I bought a wonderful bag of mixed salad from Rosheen, which contained quite a few bunches or rosettes of these very distinctive lamb’s ear shaped leaves.

Now I was compelled to explore this noticeably more available salad green. For the simple reason that “mâche” is the shortest spelling, I will continue to use it in reference to what surely must be the sweetbread of the salad world.

Mâche is technically not a lettuce, but a herb (I pronounce the “h”) from the Valerian family. It is an indigenous “weed” in temperate parts of Europe, found often in waste lands and in cultivated fields, particularly corn fields, hence “corn salad.” This also gave rise to two other names it goes by, Field lettuce or Field salad. Depending upon the source consulted, you may also see it called Lamb’s ear or Lamb’s tongue because the long, soft-skinned, spoon-shaped leaves sort of look like lamb’s ears or tongues. But it also may be known as Lamb’s lettuce because it appears in the fields in early spring, just as the new lambs arrive or, alternately, because it is a favourite food of the new lambs. Thank heavens; no one is suggesting it tastes like lamb.

The French have several words for this salad green, but the most common is mâche, a word derived from the Latin word for fruit. (It is a long stretch, so won’t bore you with it.) Besides being lovely to look at, mâche has a slightly nutty, tartly sweet flavour, and young leaves are somewhat succulent with a satisfying crispness. As they age, they become bitter, so this is definitely a green to be enjoyed in its youth.

Mâche works well in a mixture of salad greens, especially along with stronger flavoured greens such as arugula, chicory, and endive. The lettuce should always be purchased with the root still attached, or cut just above so that the rosette stays intact.

Mâche was once a very important winter salad green in many countries and remains so today largely in France. It is a hardy plant, and can withstand freezing temperatures, even snow. Seeds planted in the fall can be harvested throughout the winter months. Mâche contains nutrients similar to spinach, with lots of B and C vitamins. Although it is often served as a warm vegetable similar to spinach or beet greens, it is best eaten raw to conserve the important nutrients.

I went looking through my Joy of Cooking—all three editions—and realized that quite a bit of food history could be culled from between the lines. In the 1951 edition, a limited section on lettuce describes only head, romaine, and endive, with dandelion being the most avant garde green mentioned; no mention of mâche anywhere. The only corn salad listed in the index is a salad made with corn.

By the 1964 edition (a recent garage sale purchase), you will find “mâche” in the index, and the lettuce section of the book has been expanded several pages to include greens like escarole, chicory, butter, and bibb. “Corn salad” is also now listed in the index, cross-referenced to mâche.

In 1975, we now find descriptions of greens such as roquette and arugula. The index lists “mâche” and “corn salad or mâche.”

 In France, Aileen told me that they often ate the mâche cooked like spinach, lightly braised with oil. This is a very common way for the French to eat their mâche. In salads, it is often paired with walnut oil, julienne beets, and pears. A warmed salad can be made by mixing the greens, and tossing them with bacon browned in oil and topped with walnuts or pecans, similar to the once popular wilted spinach salad. Mâche can also be added to soups, egg dishes, and stuffing.

There are many new cultivars of this formerly wild herb. The benefits of its many culinary uses, its fresh taste and adorable appearance have grabbed the interest of our salad generation and it’s now not uncommon to find a recipe using mâche in Gourmet or Bon Appetit magazines.

Mâche is still considered a garden pest by some, especially if allowed to go to seed where it can quickly take over a garden. It’s all a matter of perspective. One man’s weed is another’s “Glazed salmon on a bed of wilted mâche.”

It appears that “mâche” has become the most often used name for this lettuce in the culinary world; I suppose, like sweetbreads, it has a more pleasant connotation than “lamb’s ears” or “tongues.”