I was eating a Japanese meal the other day, and it occurred to me to wonder about the similarity of salads to the ones in my own tradition.
You get lettuce or equivalent with tidbits and dressing, and it seems to come with all cuisines I’ve tried–European, Japanese, Chinese, Brazilian…
Does this pleasant course get invented separately all over the world? Did it get propagated over the millennia? Did it get propagated recently to meet the expectations of restaurant patrons? Is it especially a restaurant thing to keep the customers happy while the entree is cooking?
It’s the proportion of people who would be satisfied with meat-and-potatoes or equivalent that makes me wonder. My father referred to salad as “rabbit food”.