The Chicory and the Endive
The Chicory and the Endive
The Europeans have used chicory as a salad ingredient and as an alternative to coffee for more than a century. In the United States, chicory has only become popular in the past few decades. Chicory and endive, although different, are all part of the same plant family, Cichorium. Endive has two forms, narrow-leaved, known as curly endive and broad-leaved known as escarole. The outside leaves of all endive are green and bitter. The inside leaves are light green to creamy white and are milder flavored.
Chicory has three forms. Spring or cutting chicory, also known as Italian Dandelion, is grown for its leafy greens which are narrow and lancelike and resemble dandelion greens. Radicchio is a heading form of chicory. Radicchio forms small, round, red with white veined heads that resemble tiny cabbage. Witloof, also known as French or Belgian Endive, is grown as a root which is then harvested and placed in a cool, dark place. The root is then forced to sprout a tender, little, cylindrical, creamy white head.
Cutting chicory, curly endive and escarole can be grown like lettuce by direct seeding as soon as the ground can be worked and thinning the seedlings to 6-8 inches. Fall crops must be planted 8 weeks before the first frost. Chicory and endive love cool weather but are not frost tolerant.
Radicchios can either be direct seeded in late spring or started indoors and transplanted in late spring. 8-10 inches should separate seedlings. Around Labor Day cut back spring-sown crops leaving 1 inch of stem and the plants will sprout small radicchio heads which will be ready to harvest in 4-6 weeks. Blanching heads by mulching will give them a milder flavor.
Witloof should be direct seeded, ½ inch deep in rows 12-18 inches apart. After the first light frosts, dig up the roots which should be approximately 10 inches long, stand them upright in a box of moist sand or peat moss and store in a cold (35-40 degrees), dry, dark place. During the winter, trim the roots to 8 inches and move the box to a dark, warm place where the temperature is 50–60 degrees. Keep the humidity high around the roots by keeping the sand/peat moss moist and/or covering the box with a plastic bag with holes punched in it. The roots will produce the small, cylindrical heads of the Belgian Endive which can be harvested when they are 4-6 inches long.