December 26, 2016
I grew up in a family that put salad on the table at the same time as the rest of the meal. I married into a family that does the same. However, in the years between leaving home to go to college and getting married I most definitely converted to serving salad after the main part of the meal was over. Notice, I didn’t say main course because the other change I made was thinking of the meal as comprising an antipasto (even if it is just a nibble of cheese and a cracker for a family meal) followed by, what Italians would call, the first course (il primo piatto) followed by a second course (il secondo piatto).
In an Italian meal, the first course is usually pasta, or soup, or risotto. The second course usually consists of meat or fish with several side dishes (contorni). After that comes the salad. Granted, there are exceptions to this sequence, even in Italy. One of the most classic exceptions is serving Risotto alla Milanese with a breaded and fried veal chop. OK, so these days, I try not to eat baby animals, so veal is pretty much off the menu at our house, but the point is Risotto alla Milanese is typically served with the meat, not before the meat.
The general rule that the sequence is antipasto, then first course, then second course, then salad was made abundantly clear when my Italian tutor had dinner at our house a few years ago. For some reason, even though my in-laws grew up in Italy, we served spaghetti and meatballs (very good spaghetti and meatballs, mind you!). Where it got interesting, however, is that we all ate the spaghetti and meatballs at the same time (for full disclosure, I didn’t touch my salad until afterwards). My tutor, hailing from Italy however, ate her pasta first. Only then did she put a meatball or two on her plate for her second course. Only after that did she touch her salad!
When I am serving dinner for company, the salad always comes after the second course. I’d rather not serve salad than serve it with the rest of the meal. Salads, by design, have sharp dressings meant to cleanse the palate. You can’t go back and forth between a subtly seasoned dish (whether it be pasta or fish or meat) and salad and do justice to the subtlety of the first. The vinegar and/or lemon juice and/or mustard (and/or whatever else you put in your salad dressing) doesn’t allow that. Forget what it does to the wine that you’ve paired with the dish! If it’s just family, however, in the interest of domestic harmony, the salad goes on the table at the beginning. I still don’t eat mine till the end but I can’t say the same for others.
| Prep Time | 15 minutes |
| Servings |
people
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- 2 pears, ripe and juicy
- 3 stalks celery
- 5 ounces baby arugula
- 2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 5 tablespoons olive oil extra virgin
- 18 curls Pecorino Romano cheese
- fine sea salt to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Ingredients
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Rate this recipe!
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- Squeeze about half a fresh lemon to make 2 ½ tablespoons of juice. Allow the juice to sit, uncovered, at room temperature for about an hour before using it to dress the salad. The flavor of the juice will improve.
- Remove the top of the celery stalks, the part where the center stalk gets much thinner and smaller stalks come off the sides. Reserve these pieces for another use. Cut the remaining celery stalks on a long diagonal to create thin long pieces.
- Using a sharp knife or cheese paring knife, cut about 18 curls of Pecorino Romano cheese.
- Peel the pears and cut into quarters lengthwise. Core the pears. Slice into thin wedges.
- Combine the lemon juice and olive oil. Shake well to combine.
- Toss the arugula and celery with about 2/3 of the lemon-olive oil dressing. Season with salt and pepper to taste and toss again.
- Divide the arugula and celery onto six plates.
- Toss the pears in the remaining lemon-olive oil dressing. Arrange the pear slices and Pecorino Romano cheese on top of the arugula. Season with freshly ground black pepper. Serve immediately.
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Looks and sounds yummy! We traditionally eat salad as a first course with company and many times serve it as the same time as the main meal when it is just family. One can eat it anytiime they want, however, but its there on the table served. Most salads handle the small wait really well, especially if the salad plate has been cooled and the dressing is judiciously applied!
Jim
I agree, most salads, even those made with very tender greens, do quite well waiting patiently on the table till the end. For a family meal especially, putting the salad on the table at the beginning makes for a more relaxed meal service.
One thing I especially liked was the thin slivers of celery. Usually celery is cross-cut into chunks, of which I’m not a fan. The thin slivers had a better flavor and texture than chunks, and seemed less fibrous. Overall the salad was light and delicious.
What a great combination! I love putting pears or apples in salads, hut haven’t tried this before.
It works well any time. I have served it with many summer meals but the pears are such a welcome treat in the winter when salads start getting monotonous.
Thank you for this lovely recipe. I happened to have a pear just ready to be eaten, and half recipe was just right for the two of us.
Found it very refreshing and satisfying with our pasta dish. Loved the combination of textures and sweetness of the pears.
Celena you write in a lucid manner and I have no difficulty to understand what you have said, even though I am a novice.
Thank-you! I appreciate the feedback.
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