Salad and Cultural Movements 2
添加时间：2021-07-06 21:41:24 浏览：2174
Enter the Dark Ages. Western civilization was under siege, and salad gradually faded out of sight.
Then there was the advent of the Renaissance era, a distinguishable cultural movement marked by a revitalization of classical arts and ways of living, whereby a number of Southern European countries actively revisited the Roman period.
During that era, the popularity of salad soon gained traction in tandem with a burgeoning cultural scene, with Leonardo De Vinci's Mona Lisa, Michelangelo's statue of David, and Dante's Divine Comedy all symbolic of the time.
Several different kinds of salad were also invented, adding to the diversity of this dish. European royalty added meat to its already established ingredients and tremendously promoted its health value.
Some people found lettuce exceedingly to be beneficial for digestion and blood circulation, and thus created a type of salad with lettuce as the key ingredient.
Oil, salt, and vinegar still constituted the most basic seasonings, but sprinkles of chopped mint and parsley were also added to satisfy the more selective palates.
Another glamorous legacy of the Renaissance era was the boom in science and technology, in part demonstrated by ships' enhanced ability to sail across seas.
Commercial exchanges were conducted from country to country, and the dish of salad was spread across the world.
One striking example is its popularization in the United States.
By the end of the 19th century, the Home Economics movement gained strength there, and it contested the original preparation method of salad.
A little background knowledge here: The movement itself actually had more to do with female self-empowerment and education than with salad.
At the turn of the century, some women were able to enter higher-education institutes, but science majors were dominated by men, and women's prospects after graduation still remained constricted to the household.
Employment opportunities were still heavily tilted towards educated males.
In response to this disparity, some educated women who were eager to apply their skills and knowledge on everyday matters pertinent to family wellbeing, health, and education, launched this movement to create fields of study and professions aimed solely for women.
In another word, in a world where women's intelligence was belittled and downplayed, they established their own footing in academics and the society as a whole.
One aspect that their fields of study focused on was food and nutrition. That's how "scientific salad cooking" caught the trend.
It proposed that the presentation of salad should reveal as little as possible vegetables' original forms, because presenting them in their raw and natural state was deemed the opposite of "scientific".
It might sound absurd today, but at that time, order and organization were highly valued.
The Home Economics movement ran out of its steam a long time ago.
Some people began to criticize it because instead of bridging the gender gap, it separated genders by dictating what fields of study were most "fit" for women.
And we no longer pay attention to whether our salad bowls look orderly and scientific.
In its essence, salad is simply the mixing of a selection of cold foods and dressings. This essence hasn't changed since the days of ancient Rome.
But isn't it nice to know that beneath its "unsophisticated" exterior hides some of the most influential cultural movements in human history?