Places to visit
Chicory a.k.a. 'endive'

A basket of chicory hearts - Chicory served as a vegetable accompaniment to Tarte au Fromage ('cheese tart')

Is it a salad?...or a sort of coffee? The fields of market gardens in the Audomarois marshes around Saint-Omer, and the river valleys around Lille produce rows of blue-green leafy plants called "chicory" or "endive". The curly leaves of "endive" are used for salad; "chicory" hearts (often 'forced' - grown under cover like rhubarb) as a vegetable. Chicory roots are roasted and ground, to be used with or instead of coffee - just add boiling water! So many uses! ...but it's all the same plant. Health-giving herb Chicory has a reputation for many health-giving properties. In the Middle Ages, it was grown by monks and apothecaries who used the ground up roots as a medicinal herb.

Curly endive and cauliflower on sale by the roadside from farmers' stalls near Saint-Omer; - the farmers transport fresh vegetables from their fields in the marshes by boat.

	Places to visit: House of Chicory - museum in Orchies Saint-Omer - roadside stalls selling fresh chicory/ endive in season
	Nature parks: Adomarois - near Saint-Omer Saint-Amand - Nature Park
	Related background information Farming

Home

Back

Map

A-Z

www.theotherside.co.uk © Copyright 2000 Invicta Media Last updated 25th September 2000