Yes, Giada, It Really is Pronounced “ON-deev”

You say “N-dive”, I say “On-deev”. Is there a difference?

Actually, there is.

Although they are both members of the chicory family, they are different. Take a look at this lovely collection of chicory family members, and you’ll see what I mean.

CURLY ENDIVE = “N-DIVE” = LOVES THE LIGHT
When you say “N-dive” you are referring to curly endive. Grown outdoors, this type of endive is the wild member of the family, with curly, deeply-indented disheveled leaves. 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 chicories, its final growth takes place in the dark, contributing to its white or blanched color.

We’re on a mission to let everyone know about ON-deev. Even pros like Giada De Laurentiis mix up these two members of the chicory family from time to time. Now that you are “in the know”, make sure to ask for it by name (ON-deev)!

CALIFORNIA ENDIVE = DELICIOUS + HEALTHY

Endive is one of the most versatile and delicious vegetables in the world. Maybe that’s why it’s called “white gold” in Belgium. Now you can purchase Belgian-style endive grown in the  U.S.A. by Discover Endive. For more information on California (Belgian-style) Endive, visit Discover Endive.

Endive Spears filled with Goat Cheese and Fresh Cherry Relish

This post originally appeared on Table Talk, written by Debi Shawcross, and is reprinted here with her permission. Please visit her blog for more inspiring recipes, cooking tips and entertaining ideas.

This past weekend we were invited to our friends’ house for a casual summertime dinner party. When I asked what I could bring, our hostess said “How about an hors d’oeuvre? I think I’m making lobster rolls for our entree, and going with a kind of picnic theme.”

My ears perked up when I heard “lobster”, which is my favorite thing to eat in the whole world.  Lobster chilled, tossed with a  lemon aioli, and sandwiched into a lightly buttered,  toasted New England style roll is one of the best ways to enjoy lobster on a 90 degree summer night as far as I’m concerned.

I was excited about seeing our friends after being away for most of the summer, and excited for the lobster rolls. Now what to bring?

Something that was assembled, and ready to go when I arrived was at the top of the criteria, and knowing it would be a warm night, I wanted something that could be served chilled, or at room temperature. What flavors would complement the sweet, succulent lobster? How about smoky, salty pancetta? That’s always a good thing, and also happened to be the first flavor that came to mind, as I thought of a filling I could spoon into  Belgian endive spears.

So here’s what I came up with: Endive spears filled with a bit of chive goat cheese, and topped with a fresh cherry relish made with pancetta, arugula, and hazelnuts.  A balance of sweet, salty , and tangy, rounded out with some of that butternut squash seed oil that I fell in love with in the Beef Tenderloin Rolls filled with Arugula and Crispy Leeks I made a few weeks ago.

The relish and goat cheese worked really well  served together in the cool endive spears (they disappeared off of the tray pretty fast!) I think the relish  would also be a fine addition  to  grilled chicken, lamb, or duck, and plan to try it that way soon.

And the lobster rolls? They were fantastic.

Endive Spears Filled with Goat Cheese and Fresh Cherry Relish

Endive Spears filled with Goat Cheese and Fresh Cherry Relish

1 teaspoon olive oil

4 ounces pancetta, finely chopped

1 cup (about 5-6 ounces) pitted cherries, finely chopped

1/2 cup arugula, cut into a chiffonade

1/4 cup toasted hazelnuts

1/4 teaspoon fig balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon butternut squash seed oil (or extra virgin olive oil)

Salt and pepper to taste

8 ounces goat cheese (I used chive flavored)

4 large heads Belgian endive, trimmed, leaves separated

Heat olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium high heat. Add pancetta and saute, stirring frequently, until browned and crisp. Drain on paper towel lined plate.

Transfer pancetta to a medium bowl and add add next 5 ingredients, stirring thoroughly to combine. Spoon about 1/2 teaspoon into the bottom of an endive spear. Top with an equal amount of cherry relish. Repeat with remaining ingredients.

Makes 36-40 spears.

A Visit to an Endive Farm

The following post originally appeared on Specialfork’s Blog on August 8, 2011 and was written by Sandy Hu. 

Endive Salad

I love endive – braised, grilled, in salads or as an edible scoop for dips. I’ll eat this crunchy, nutty, slightly bitter vegetable any way it’s served.

So you can imagine my delight when I was invited last Wednesday to Rio Vista, California, for an endive farm tour at California Vegetable Specialties (CVS), the largest producer of endive in the U.S.

I had seen endive growing experimentally in Hawaii on a small scale. But I was unprepared for the magnitude of production at CVS. And while I knew the heads grew in pitch-black conditions, I hadn’t really understood how complicated it was to produce this delicacy – a two-step process that involves growing chicory roots, harvesting the roots and keeping them in cold storage; then awakening the hibernating roots and forcing the heads to grow in dark rooms, nourished from the root and through a hydroponic process. CVS founder Rich Collins sums it up as “a contrived, manipulated response to a plant.” Check out the fascinating growing process in this video.

Collins, a delightful host and an excellent teacher, always wanted to be a farmer, even as a child. But the desire didn’t take root until he encountered endive. As an 18-year-old dishwasher at the French restaurant La Salle in Sacramento, he was exposed to endive just once: at a VIP birthday banquet at the restaurant where braised endive was served. He hadn’t tasted the endive, but when he learned that this delicacy was only available imported from Europe and the high price it commanded, Collins was hooked.

That very year, he started a small patch to grow endive. “I failed miserably,” he recalled. After many years researching growing techniques and a year in Europe working on endive farms, Collins began commercial production on five acres in 1983. Today, the farm has expanded to 250 acres, 40 of which are dedicated to organic endive.

One of the secrets to successfully growing endive is in the quality of the chicory roots that go into cold storage. “You need really good plant materials,” he said. “The cold room is not a hospital.” You can’t coax poor roots into make quality endive.

We had a delicious endive lunch following the tour, including this Endive Salad below.

And by the way, the proper pronunciation, we learned, is “On-deev.” “End-dive” refers to another member of the chicory family, the green, leafy curly endive, escarole and frisee that grow outdoors in the light. I always thought there was a French pronunciation and an American one; but pronunciation actually defines the two different members of the chicory family.

To get the recipe and shopping list on your smartphone (iPhone, BlackBerry, Android device) or PC, click here.

Endive Salad

2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 small clove garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
2 white endives, heads sliced crosswise in wide ribbons
2 red endives, heads sliced crosswise in wide ribbons
1 cup arugula
½ cup shaved Parmesan cheese
¼ cup toasted pumpkin seeds or other nuts
1 large pear (Bartlett or Bosc), sliced

In a large bowl whisk together vinegar, lemon juice, oil, mustard and garlic until well mixed. Season with salt and pepper. Add the endives and arugula and toss. Divide salad among four salad plates. Scatter the Parmesan shavings and the pumpkin seeds on top, dividing equally and arrange ¼ of the pear slices on each salad. Serves 4.

Recipe from California Vegetable Specialties.

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Endive: One Cool Little Vegetable!

California Endive growing in the dark

Recently, Discover Endive hosted a few food writers at its farm in Rio Vista, California. Today, the Sacramento Bee features the low down on that tour and this unique, delicious vegetable.

Did you know:

• California Endive is grown twice?
• It grows in the dark?
• Discover Endive in Rio Vista is the only grower of endive in the U.S., and the largest grower of red endive in the world?

For more on this cool little vegetable, visit the Sacramento Bee and try out one of the fabulous recipes provided with today’s enlightening article!

Hungry for more? Visit the Discover Endive website and sign up for the newsletter!

Recipe Round-up

Grilled Endive with Rosemary Marinade

Here at Discover Endive, we’ve perused the internet and found some delicious California Endive recipes we’d like to share. Visit the links below and you’ll find something you can try tonight!

 

 

Here are a few facts about California Endive you may not know:

• Due to its unique growing cycle, both red and white California Endive are in season all year long.
• Once you’re ready to use endive, there’s no need to wash it. The leaves have never been exposed to soil, and are harvested and packed under sanitary conditions.
• Store endive wrapped in a damp paper towel inside a plastic bag in the vegetable drawer of your refrigerator, and it will last up to 14 days!

And now to those recipes:

• A great dip recipe from Food Network’s Giada De Laurentiis, using California Endive spears as the “slimmer dipper.”
• Debi Shawcross pulled together this wonderful California Endive recipe for a summer night’s picnic.
• Before grilling weather disappears, try this wonderful marinade and technique from Jill Hough and Discover Endive. Grilled California Endive is spectacular!

Tell us your favorite way to prepare California Endive!

TIME FOR ENDIVE TO TAKE ROOT

Or, How I Became the Endive Guy

Rodger Helwig, aka "Endive Guy"

Yes, I am the Endive Guy, aka Rodger Helwig. And here’s the story on how I was lucky enough to take on that moniker.

Born at a very young age, I was always a foodie.  When young, my Mother only believed that I was really sick was when I had no appetite.  I was one child that was rarely late for dinner.  No one had to call me.

My father was once in the restaurant business, so in my early 20s I joined that fraternity, managing hotel restaurants up and down the East Coast.  After three years of working day and night, six to seven days a week, I decided I needed a real life.  So, I went back to school at Boston University, becoming a documentary filmmaker.

Since I didn’t want to be a starving artist, I switched courses once again to follow my first passion — wine and  food.  Wine was the first stop, where I taught and promoted wine courses and events at the International Wine Center in New York.

From there I went on to market wines from around the globe, meeting many great winemakers and tasting wines back to 1797 (Madeiras, they last forever). But I got bored with wine.  I know, how is that possible? And decided to move back to food, marketing produce.

Apricots, pears, cherries, pomegranates, sweet onions — I had fun working on them all. But when I heard about endive I was really intrigued.

Endive was something that wasn’t on my culinary radar.  I had never purchased it (and I call myself a foodie?), only enjoying it at cocktail parties and special events. Then I met Jane St. Clair, a woman who has a website dedicated to artisan California food producers.  She suggested that I contact Rich Collins, president of California Vegetable Specialties, producers of California Endive, the only endive produced in America.

Well, I did my homework and sent him a pitch email listing my many accomplishments in produce marketing. Subject title: IT’S TIME FOR ENDIVE TO TAKE ROOT.

Two days later, I got a call from Rich saying he was looking for someone like me to educate Americans about endive. Long story short, I got the job via a cab in Shanghai. Shanghai? Yes, the board of directors who had to approve me emailed Rich from a cab in Shanghai and gave him the nod to hire me.  So when people ask how I got my job, I say I was “shanghaied.”

Rich Collins, who had been the preacher of the gospel of endive for almost 30 years, anointed me as the new endive preacher. So here I am writing this blog.

Instead of a divinity moniker, I decided that “Endive Guy” would work for me.  After all, that’s what my friends now call me.

So, from now on this Endive Guy will try to have fun with this new blog, exploring the world of endive, other food topics, and whatever else amuses me.

I hope you’ll tune in and join the conversation.

P.S. The correct pronunciation really is ON-DEEV.