>> I belonged to a bunko group.
Bunko? I thought that meant "the confidence game", "con men", and swindlers, like felonies. But I don't think they have support groups, so there must be another meaning.
Ceasar Salad uses Romaine lettuce, which is my current favorite. Tall, tight heads with big leaves and fat white ribs that CRUNCH. It looks a little like Michihili Chinese cabbage, but different flavor.
I only started trying to grow lettuce 2 years ago, and last year I was too busy (and overrun with weeds) to plant. The one that came up were more "bitter" than I like, meaning "not sweet". I think that was "Marvel of Four Seasons" , but the weather may have been too warm for it to be sweet.
Iceberg tastes about like ice. To me, its only virtue is that it crunches. And it has the lowest level of vitamins of any lettuce type. It's kind of the "white bread" if lettuce.
"They" say that butterhead lettuce is the most refined and maybe sweetest or least bitter. I think it also has the thinnest and most tender leaves. Unfortunately to my mind, "gourmet lettuce" seems to reflect European tastes, which allow sharp and bitter flavors into the salad bowl. I like what Frank Morton said about one of his varieties: "Teenager-tested to have extra-low bitterness".
I think that each variety is least bitter if grown at the temperature and with the moisture level it prefers most. And young leaves are sweeter than old leaves. And (usually) every part of the lettuce gets quite b8itter once it goes to seed.
Unfortunately for my unsophisticated palate, many red varieties tend to be more bitter than green ones. But I like the way they look!
