ENDIVES - FOOD OF THE WINTER
From the lettuce family of leaf vegetables comes the endive (Chicorium endiva), not only with the common grassy aroma of all lettuce vegetables but also with its own distinct bitterness that is provided by a molecule called lactucin. When endives are grown, they are often tied into heads to give the inner leaves less light and thus to control their bitterness production. This is also why the outer greener leaves of the endive taste more bitter than the inner leaves. The so called Belgian endive (witloof), for example, is grown from the seeds as 'usual' during the spring, but then the leaves are stripped off, and the root can then be planted indoors and as it grows the leaves are to be covered with soil to protect them from greening and therefore bittering too much. Once in the market, the white heads of Belgian endives must be protected from the sunlight, or they will get greener and more bitter, and not so delicate anymore. All this fuss one needs to make with endives also is reflected in the price, as they cost more than the 'common' vegetables we use to buy. But, why not indulge in endives from time to time?
Endives come in more varieties, from curly endives that are often mistaken for chicory, and have curly green outer leaves, to frisée with nicely friséed leaves (hence the name!), to escarole that is a less bitter variant of endives. There are also the red radicchio, and the small puntarelle available. If you try all these endive variants, you will surely find your favorite, although the most popular has to be the Belgian white head (see picture of endive above).
Endives are rich in folate, important for a certain amino acid metabolism process, and also has fine amounts of vitamin K and A - for blood coagulation, and for night vision, and lesser amounts of vitamins B5 and C. Being a leaf vegetable, endives also carry quite a lot of fibres. They also have some sweet taste because of the slight amount of sugar they produce.
Endives are popular to mix with walnuts and some blue or green cheese, e.g. Roquefort. They just go well together with these ingredients. Endives can also be enjoyed with watercress, apples, lemon, pears, or figs. They can be combined with smoked fish or bacon, and they get enhanced in flavor by cheeses, cream, or butter. Even though many people like to eat the endives raw or just cooked, they can be braised in a flavorful stock until they are just soft and cooked through, and the endive leaves can be sautéed in some olive oil until they are lightly brown. As you see, you can try to do many things with endives.