Everyone hates lettuce, but they don’t really. They just think they do. It gets such a bad press but I adore lettuce. There are so many things you can do with and it’s the cement in so many great dishes. We use tons of lettuce and we produce over 23,000,000 tonnes of it a year worldwide.

Here’s some exciting ways of working with lettuce:

Gem – blend it with some natural yogurt, dill, salt, pepper and a splash of vinegar. It makes a lovely dip or chilled soup. It’s excellent with oysters.

Or try taking an apple, slice a wedge from it, wrap it in some gem lettuce with cottage cheese, salt & pepper and eat it like an enchilada.

Another one of my favourite things to do with gem lettuce is get a jacket potato, bake it, cut it in half and scoop out the potato. Then mix it with some butter, chopped tomato, chopped boiled egg, chopped onion, hard and soft cheese, tons of gem lettuce and put it back into the skin. Marvellous.

Romaine – a very robust lettuce. Long, thick, sweet and meaty. And it can take anything. It’s even great on the barbecue – just stick it on and cook until nice and crispy. It’s great with big flavours too like curry, smoked bacon, pork scratchings, mackerel, kippers and caviar.

Frisee – this looks nice on plate but it doesn’t really taste of much. My favourite thing to do with frisee is dip it in egg, flour and breadcrumbs to make a nice batter then deep-fry it. It’s absolutely gorgeous.

Chinese leaves – these are very sweet. We have a dish on the menu with strawberries and Chinese leaves. Try it with some cream cheese, jam and a sweet compote and make a little fruit roll. Fantastic.

Spinach – spinach is lovely raw or pan fried with veg, meat or fish. You can bake it dry and it goes crispy which is delicious.

Chicory – this one is a mystery to a lot of people. People think it’s very bitter but it goes great with dried fruits e.g. figs or plums and some honey. Take a slice and whack it in the oven with some honey, olive oil, sugar and leave it for a couple of hours at a low temperature. It’s the best thing in the world.

It’s also magnificent with duck or lamb and strong gamey flavours.

Rocket – I feel sorry for rocket because it’s such a beautiful thing but it gets thrown around from here to there. We make a smoothie with it – yogurt, milk, salt & pepper blended then passed. Wonderful.

Escarole – this works so well with fruit. Make an enchilada with some chopped summer fruit, yogurt and fruit puree.

Cos - guinea fowl is delicious wrapped in cos lettuce. Just blanch the leaves in some chicken stock then wrap it around the meat along with some bacon.

Pak choi – take some pak choi, bok choy, beansprouts and pan fry with some chopped ham, celery salt. Throw on some cheese and stick under the grill.

You can take any lettuce leaves, wrap them in tin foil, and bake it like a vegetable in the oven with salt & pepper.

The great thing about lettuce is there is no waste. Cook the stalk! Don’t waste any of it. The leaves on top of celery are also lovely deep-fried.

You can do anything with lettuce.  There’s nothing that a lettuce can offend and it never lets you down.

And if you like oysters and lettuce, you are in heaven. They were made for each other.

Lettuce is a staple in most salads but did you know that the lettuce we eat today actually started out as a weed around the Mediterranean basin?

Here are 10 more fascinating facts that you might not know about lettuce.

1 The Romans are believed to have introduced lettuce to the UK.

2 In Elizabethian times, dried lettuce juice was used to help people sleep.

3 The Romans used to eat a lettuce salad before a banquet because they believed that it enhanced their appetites.

4 During World War II Lactucarium, a sedative made from wild lettuce extracts, was used in hospitals.

5 It is believed that lettuce was first eaten by the ancient kings of Persia around 2,500 years ago.

6 Iceberg lettuce was developed in America and got its name because it used to be packed with ice to ensure it would survive being transported in warm temperatures.

7 Leonardo da Vinci was the first artist to depict salad in his paintings. In the Leda, 1504, there is a child posing with a bouquet of lambs lettuce.

8 Romaine is believed to be the oldest type of cultivated lettuce. It has been cultivated and eaten cooked or raw for almost 5,000 years.

9 In Ancient Egypt, lettuce was sacred to the fertility god Min and considered to be a powerful aphrodisiac.

10 The first representation of salad appeared in paintings on Egyptian tombs in 4,500BC.