Endive

It’s a shame more people don’t try endive, not just because the chemicals that produce the slightly bitter flavour are legendary as an aphrodisiac, but because teamed with the right ingredients, it’s really quite delicious. The three types of endive are Belgian (small, pale leaves), curly (loose heads of lacy green leaves) and escarole, which is pale green with wide leaves. Any of these varieties are perfect in a mixed salad or a marriage made in heaven with blue cheese and almost any type of nut.

Endive is a good source of niacin, Vitamin B6 and folate. It also contains thiamin (one of the B vitamins – B1), fibre, iron and potassium, as well as many nutrients considered to have anti-inflammatory properties, including Vitamin C, folate and beta-carotene.

Legend goes that it was ‘discovered’ by a Belgian in the 19th century. He had forgotten to tend his chicory roots, which he was keeping in the cellar to dry them and later roast them as a coffee substitute, and found they’d sprouted long, pale yellow leaves. He tasted them, liked them and started to cultivate them as a new vegetable. Another Belgian, a botanist called Brezier, developed ‘Belgian endive’ from coffee chicory. It first appeared in Belgian markets in the mid-1800s and when it was introduced to Paris in 1872 it was so popular that it was nicknamed ‘white gold’.

— From I'm in Season