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| Soil grown Belgian endive from Agnes' farm. Note dirt on leaves--a good sign. |
It’s true. Dirty endives taste better. Belgian endives grown in dirt taste better than those grown hydroponically. I never even knew there were two ways of growing Belgian endive, let alone that there might be a difference in the way they taste, until one fine day at the local greengrocers, Convention Les Halles. There I was, waiting in line. The woman in front of me, let’s just call her Madame X, had piled up a mound of delicious looking fruits and vegetables on the tiny counter. The cashier, a middle-aged woman who often wore fingerless gloves to fend off the cold wafting in from the open store front, held up a bag of pale, torpedo shaped Belgian endives.
“What kind are these?” asked the cashier.
“What kind? I don’t know, are there different kinds?” asked Madame X.
“There’s the regular kind, then there’s ‘pleine terre’. The ‘pleine terre’ are more expensive.”
Madame X took her bag of endives and went back to the ‘pleine terre’ crate, which was stamped on its wooden side with a picture of a farmer and a plow. She inspected it, dumped the endives back in the crate, and marched back to the cashier.
“I’m not paying 4 euros a kilo for them, that’s twice as much as the other ones,” huffed Madame X. The cashier shrugged and rang up the rest of the groceries.
After Madame X had stomped off, I asked the cashier what the difference was between the two kinds of endives. One was grown hydroponically, she told me, and the other was grown in soil. The soil made them less bitter and tastier, she said. Of course after that I had to try some ‘pleine terre’ endives.
My favorite farmer in the local market is Agnes. You won’t find kiwis and pineapples at her stand; she is a real farmer, and only brings what she has grown or foraged. This weekend I tried her Belgian endives, grown in soil, and they are the sweetest, tastiest, least bitter endives I have ever tasted. The soil grown endives from the local greengrocer are also less bitter and tastier than hydroponic endives, but Agnes’ are the best. The Belgian endive, also called French endive, or witloof (from ‘white leaf’), is Cichorium intybus. It is the same plant whose roots can be roasted and used as a coffee substitute, chicory.
Your conclusion appears to be based on insufficient data. What if the Agnes endive you ate was sweet for some other reason? You need to subject your family to at least 20 endive meals - 10 from Agnes and 10 from the hydroponic carrefour factory supply - and obtain blind data (ideally double blind though this may be impossible) on the level of 'bitterness' therein.
ReplyDeleteGood point, will do! Endives are a wonderful diet food too, and much tastier than celery, IMHO.
ReplyDeletewhat do you eat them with? Dorothea taught me a container of schmand, olive oil, salt and pepper and finely diced red onion. andrea also made up chopped endive with yogurt, salt and pepper and pomelo bits. that was good too. i think she made it up. it was what we had in the fridge.
ReplyDeleteEndives are excellent both raw and cooked:
ReplyDeleteRaw:
-in any salad, (try it with pears, walnuts, greens, and vinaigrette), or as crudités with hummous or any other dip
-use individual leaves to hold smoked oysters, crunchy nut butter with dried cherries, or to hold a scoop of the following: chopped smoked salmon or mackerel, mixed with chopped parsley, capers, chopped scallions or red onion, pepper, a squeeze of lime juice.
Cooked:
Try braised endives in the oven, 375 oF 20-30 min.
Cut endives into quarters, place in single layer in greased baking dish.
Drizzle with a squeeze of lemon juice, olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper (optional curry powder).
Add about 1/3 cup water or stock to dish, cover with foil or lid.
Bake until endives tender, remove foil or lid, turn endives over and bake a few minutes more until lightly browned. Enjoy!