Endive – Belgium’s tasty treasure
Endive is a vegetable that is extremely underrated and often given the cold shoulder in our cooking repertoire. This is incredibly unfair, and I was reminded of this by a Belgian acquaintance at the weekend, who authoritatively informed me that endive is Belgium’s national vegetable.
Good quality endive should be a creamy white colour and feel crisp and firm to the touch. For best results it should be stored in the refrigerator and used reasonably soon after purchase because it can easily turn bitter to the taste after too much light exposure.
Endive hails from the same family as Chicory. It is low in calories and rich in nutrients, such as vitamins B, A and C. It also contains iron, calcium, amino acids and fibre, which makes it great for slimmers. It’s also fantastic for people with skin problems or anaemia.
I asked my Belgian acquaintance how endive is usually served in his home country. Apparently, endive au gratin is extremely popular. Simply sauté one head of endive per person and place in an ovenproof dish. Wrap each head in a slice of Belgian ham, smother the lot in a béchamel or cheese sauce and bake until the dish is brown and bubbling.
My twist on béchamel is to make a classic white sauce using cornflower for thickening, season with plenty of salt and ground black pepper, and add a few tablespoons of parmesan cheese to give it a kick. Traditionally béchamel is flavoured with a bay leaf and the use of parsley or thyme, but these are optional and you’ll need to experiment which flavours work well with endive if you want to make the traditional Belgian dish – I’d probably go for a little parsley every time.
