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A Quilt of Ham and Cream

Baked Endives with Ham and Cheese

There are a lot of different chicories now available to us,

but by far the most common and easiest to find is perhaps

the finest of all. Were the Belgian, or witloof (trans: ‘white

leaf’) endive not so common, it would doubtless be more

highly esteemed.

Should you buy the ‘plain’ white endive, and not the

slightly more expensive and pretty but rather pointless red

endive, I think you are getting a bargain. Bearing in mind

that every head of endive represents one complete root

that has grown for a hundred and twenty days, its foliage

cut back, then replanted and the fresh growth cultivated

in the dark, it all sounds a laborious process for the fairly

trifling sums that it costs in the shops. Furthermore, there

seems to be a universal quality standard: they are almost

always beautifully grown, forming compact and creamy

white heads composed of delicate tender leaves. They

rarely have an overdeveloped stalk or excessive colour on

the leaf tips, the two faults that they must be prone to.

I am equally partial to eating my witloof raw or cooked.

The leaves are best just separated from the stalk but left

whole and dressed with lemon juice and walnut oil, but are

equally enjoyable with a strong vinaigrette or served plain

with a good blue cheese. Served raw, their bitterness is

of a mild variety – it is to subdue their bitterness, one

assumes, that they were blanched in the first place – and

acceptable to all but the most untutored palate. When

cooked, however, witloof becomes a rather more grown-up

proposition. Lemon juice and a little sugar will soften the

impact but the fact is that cooking accentuates the innate

bitterness of this lovely plant. That is rather the point.

To some, especially the uninitiated, the bitterness of all

chicory is intrinsically inimical. They will put up with a

certain amount if it is understated and counterbalanced by

a nice dressing because most chicory has a pleasantly

crunchy texture. To aficionados, however, the bitterness is

positively addictive. If our mouths pucker slightly on first

bite, we immediately want to repeat the experience, just as

true curry fiends love serious heat from their chilli. As with

curry enthusiasts’ assorted cooling accompaniments of

rice and chutney, the bitterness of the endive needs to be

wrapped in a protective cloak, none better than this quilt

of ham and cream.

87

March