An Italian Cookbook Author's Secret for Making Perfect Salads

Marcella Hazan is a well-known food writer who brought traditional Italian food to an American audience through her cookbooks. She is perhaps most famous for her tomato sauce, which consists of just three ingredients, and her simple roast chicken stuffed with fresh lemons. Her recipes have been described as beautiful, reliable, and brilliantly simple.

In 1992, Hazan published "Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking." It contained directions for making salad that took the unusual form of an Italian proverb, rather than precise measurements. To this day, its simplicity delights me. I can still remember the day my aunt was tossing a leafy salad with her hands (another one of Marcella's directions, my aunt said, though I have not confirmed it myself) and recited Marcella's proverbial words to me:

"For a good salad, you need four persons: A judicious one for the salt, a prodigal one for the olive oil, a stingy one for the vinegar, and a patient one to toss it."

In other words, you need to add salt carefully, testing as you go until it’s just right. You can add olive oil generously (“prodigal” can also mean reckless or extravagant). But be cautious when it comes to vinegar, not overdoing it to overwhelm the flavors. Last but not least, take the time to toss it properly.

Marcella's son Giuliano Hazan, a renowned chef himself, provides some further information. He explains that the recommended ratio is three parts extra-virgin olive oil to one part red wine vinegar. Sometimes lemon juice is used, or a dash of balsamic vinegar, but this should not replace the red wine vinegar fully, as it would be "too sweet and cloying."

As for the person doing the tossing, Marcella wasn't kidding about needing to be patient. Apparently it should be tossed "at least 34 times...until every leaf is evenly coated." My aunt also told me that Marcella taught her the dressing should be in the bottom of the bowl and mixed through the lettuce leaves that way, not poured overtop. 

What vegetables should be included in a classic Italian salad? Giuliano recommends green or red leaf lettuce, strips of red pepper, thinly sliced fennel, or some radicchio or arugula. He says, "The salad is an expression of your flavor choices, no one item should overwhelm another, everything should be in balance."

I do not presume to know a fraction of what Marcella did about making Italian lettuce salads, but I will offer one tiny piece of advice that has made a big difference in my own experience: Choose a big enough bowl to toss that salad properly. There should always be plenty of space to mix the leaves thoroughly without fear of them flying out. So, perhaps assign a fifth person to select an ample-sized bowl to start—then salad success will surely be yours.