Grown outdoors, endive (pronounced en-dive) is the wild member of the family, with curly, deeply-indented disheveled leaves. It is often called curly endive. A tamer looking version is called escarole. Frisee is a smaller headed variety with fine leaves and a semi-blanched center. In some parts of the U.S., it’s called chicory.
BELGIAN ENDIVE = ON-DEEV = FRIEND OF THE DARK
So what is endive (on-deev)? Most often referred to as Belgian endive, it could be called the elegant member of the chicory family, with its tightly packed leaves and smooth, elongated shape. Unlike curly endive or other chicory's, its final growth takes place in the dark, contributing to its white or blanched color.
Tools For Chef Educators
If you are a Chef Educator, and would like to teach your students about endive production at California Vegetable Specialties, we'd like to be a resource. We've developed a kit for Chef Educators that includes:
• A seven-minute DVD documenting our entire process, from sowing chicory seeds to loading boxes of California Endives onto trucks for market
• A sequential root display, demonstrating how the endive develops from the chicory root in the forcing room between Day One and Day Twenty-One
• A six-pound case of mixed white and red California endives
• Brochures to distribute to your students
Educator kits are available free of charge to food professionals and culinary schools. To receive your kit and endive samples, please email Rodger Helwig at fresh7@comcast.net.
FIRST TWENTY RESPONDENTS WILL RECEIVE THIS OFFER. |
