The tenderest of salad leaves — small, velvety rosettes with a mild, nutty, slightly sweet flavour; a classic French winter salad green harvested when almost everything else in the garden has died back; sold as lamb's lettuce in Britain and corn salad in North America.
Lamb’s lettuce
Mâche is known by several names: mâche in France (and in French-derived contexts), lamb’s lettuce in Britain (supposedly because sheep graze on it in the fields), and corn salad in North America (it grows as a weed in grain fields). Whatever the name, it is the same plant — tiny, soft, spoon-shaped leaves that form low rosettes and can be harvested through winter when almost no other salad plant survives.
Flavour
Mâche has one of the mildest and most pleasant flavours of any salad leaf — slightly nutty, gently sweet, with none of the bitterness of endive or the sharpness of arugula. This makes it a wonderful base for strongly flavoured additions. The classic French salad pairs mâche with roasted beetroot, toasted walnuts, and a light vinaigrette — the earthiness of the beetroot and richness of the walnuts complement the delicate leaves perfectly.
Winter salad
Mâche germinates and grows best in cool temperatures — it is genuinely frost-hardy and can be harvested through winter from an unheated polytunnel or cold frame in Britain. In France it is a standard market crop from October to March, when little else is available fresh and local. This makes it an exceptionally valuable crop for winter salad production.
Small but nutritious
Despite its delicate appearance, mâche is unusually nutritious: it is high in folate, vitamin C, and beta-carotene for a salad leaf, and contains more omega-3 fatty acids than most other vegetables.
Find more vegetables by letter
Mâche starts with M and ends with E. Browse other vegetables along the same letter.
Vegetables that contain a letter from "Mâche":