American salad with a la carte cut. The leaves of American lettuce or iceberg lettuce are crunchy and juicy. Iceberg lettuce serves as the base for many raw salads as well as warm salads. The story of the name iceberg lettuce dates back to the beginning of the 20th century in America, when large blocks of ice were used to cool the train carriages in the railroad transports of the crunchy lettuce. There was talk of icebergs coming when a cargo of lettuce arrived at the station. This is how the lettuces gradually became the iceberg lettuce, which is also known as the American salad.