Idle thought -- cabbage and lettuce

Chatting over a slow dinner (3.5 hours for 3 courses to be served) we realised we couldn't come up with a definition that made a difference between a cabbage and lettuce...

How was the wine?

Better than the food

[Jenise]

The difference between cabbage and lettuce is a lot like the difference between cats and dogs. Almost everything's the same but one barks, the other doesn't.

The difference between cabbage and lettuce is a lot like the difference between cats and dogs. Almost everything's the same but one barks, the other doesn't.

Not quite. Cabbage has a stinky, sulfurous smell to me that prevents me from eating the Cruciforms almost entirely. I can eat all lettuces.

[Jenise]

[Not quite. Cabbage has a stinky, sulfurous smell

That's the bark part!

The only similarity I can see between cabbage and lettuce is that they can both be made into salads and eaten cold. That's about it.

[Robin Garr]

I love this thread! I don't now whether I'm laughing harder at Jenise's responses or Karen's!

They can both be cooked too. A local restaurant has a dish of grilled chicken served over grilled romaine hearts. It's quite tasty and I was able to recreate it at home, grilling the romaine over charcoal.

I love this thread! I don't now whether I'm laughing harder at Jenise's responses or Karen's!

Ok Sir Robin, how about a response from you?

[Robin Garr]

Ok Sir Robin, how about a response from you?

Oh, Jenise already said it. Two different species!

Well, you can use lettuce and cabbage uncooked in salads and also cooked.

We've some long pointed pale whitey-green cabbage in the shops that looks like romaine lettuce, which is what got me thinking about what is it that makes one a cabbage and the other a lettuce.

Then there is the delicate pak choi..

I don't know