Iceberg Lettuce

A tight, heavy head of iceberg. It has less flavour than a soft-leaf lettuce and everyone knows it — what it has instead is crunch and cold, and there are dishes where nothing else will do.

Shredded fine, it is the layer that keeps a shawarma or a burger from going soggy, and it is the base of a wedge salad or a coleslaw where the leaves have to survive dressing. It also holds up in a lunchbox for hours, which soft leaves will not.

Choose a head that is heavy for its size and squeaks slightly when squeezed. Rust-coloured edges on the outer leaves are normal; brown at the core is not.

Whole in the fridge, in the salad drawer. Do not cut it until you need it — a cut edge browns within hours, and the whole head keeps three times as long as a cut one.

Seven to ten days whole, two days once cut.