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Curly Endive

Because you know what tastes good… curly endive has a bitter flavour and is therefore usually blended with other varieties of chicories or lettuces to provide a sharp contrast.

A natural elegance… Curly endive consists of many stems on which grow little curly leaves of a dark green colour.

Good for you… In addition to being an excellent source of vitamin K, curly endive is also a source of folate and manganese.

Curly Endive Worldwide: Very popular in certain European countries such as Italy and the Netherlands, curly endive is however little known in North America. It is nevertheless becoming more and more present in American and Canadian diets.

Try with… different varieties of greens in a spring mix or to season Iceberg, romaine, leaf lettuce or Boston salads. In fact, curly endive’s bitterness is not always appreciated when served alone. Therefore, it is better to serve it as a side dish or to mix it with other chicories or lettuces.

Gourmets’ Inspirations:

Curly endive is more enjoyable when combined with other vegetables than as a main ingredient. Its strong taste enhances spring mixes or salads of greens and can also be used to garnish cheese platters or smoked fish.

A salad of curly endive may be served as a side dish for meat or fish. In this case, you may blend with other vegetables (tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, onions, shallots, carrots or cabbage), nuts or even fruits such as oranges, apples or pears.

Once cooked, curly endive loses some of its bitterness. Therefore, you can, for instance, steam it, drizzle it with olive oil and lemon juice and season it with cinnamon. Otherwise, after having boiled it for 5 to 10 minutes and drained it, you can cook it in a pan with roughly sliced garlic cloves, olive oil, salt and fresh ground pepper. You will then coat it carefully with butter and enjoy it with crusty bread or as a side dish.

The Right Dressing for Curly Endive:

Due to its bitterness, curly endive is more enjoyable drizzled with tangy vinaigrettes. Olive oil suits perfectly, but you can also opt for walnut oil. For your vinegar, choose cider, raspberry or white or red wine vinegar. You may also replace it by lemon juice. Do not hesitate to add spices such as cinnamon, thyme or oregano to your dressing. You may wish to make your salad a little exotic by tossing your curly endive in an oriental vinaigrette made of sesame oil, soy sauce and rice vinegar.

How to Select Your Curly Endive: Choose a curly endive with firm leaves of a beautiful green colour with no spots or rot.

How to Store and Prepare Your Curly Endive: Curly endive can be stored at most one week in a perforated plastic bag, inside the refrigerator, as it must breathe or it will rot. A helpful tip: if you want to ease the bitterness of curly endive, soak it in cold water for about 10 minutes.

Savour it… all summer, from the end of June to the beginning of October (production of Quebec).

Related Products: Escarole, radicchio, Iceberg lettuce, romaine, green and red leaf, Boston lettuce, Spring Mix, San Marino Mix, Oriental Mix, arugula, baby spinach, nappa cabbage.

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