.
Just must visit M a s D u D i a b l e and read Laura Hudsons Plant profile of just Chicory & Endive
"I love the robust, complex flavours and the variety of textures and colours that this family of leafy plants offers the salad bowl. February has, in previous years, been the middle of our chicory & endive season. This year, with the tunnel out of action and the rains trashing the outdoor seedlings, I can only look at the pictures and dream of last years crop and make a mental note to sow plenty this year." Laura Hudson
"Me pascunt olivae, me cichorea, me malvae"
A small history lesson. The chicory plant is one of the earliest cited in recorded literature. Horace mentions it in reference to his own diet, which he describes as very simple: "Me pascunt olivae, me cichorea, me malvae" ("As for me, olives, endives, and mallows provide sustenance").
Lord Monboddo describes the plant in 1779 as the "chicoree", which the French cultivate as a pot herb. In the Napoleonic Era in France, chicory frequently appeared as either an adulterant in coffee or a coffee substitute; this practice also became common in the United States and the United Kingdom, e.g., in England during the Second World War and in Camp Coffee, a coffee and chicory essence which has been on sale since 1885.
Chicory is an ingredient in typical Roman recipes, generally fried with garlic and red pepper, with its bitter and spicy taste, often together with meat or potatoes
The chicory flower is often seen as inspiration for the Romantic concept of the Blue Flower. It was also believed to be able to open locked doors, according to European folklore.
Root chicory (Cichorium intybus var. sativum) has been in cultivation in Europe as a coffee substitute for a long time. The roots are baked, ground, and used as a coffee substitute and additive, especially in the Mediterranean region (where the plant is native), although its use as a coffee additive is also very popular in India, parts of Southeast Asia and the American South, particularly in New Orleans. wikipedia
I wish you all a happy and sunny weekend
and to Australia a lot of heavy rain!
TYRA
It is Blooming Friday meet all the other participants here at Katarina
45 comments:
I love your history lessons. I am learning so much on here. I also really like chicory though I have been unsuccessful getting it started in my garden.
Five hours...
Hi tina and thank you, I think this amazing little flower just open in the morning stays open for just five hour and then dies.
That is a short life, just a few hours.
Tyra
I love cikoria - it's blue! =)
/Helen
Tjaha Helen så du är tokig i allt blått.
This post is so interesting to me and I love the photo. Thanks and have a nice day.
Wow, thanks for sharing everything (and more) than I (never) knew I needed to know about chicory! It's really amazing information, and also amazing that you can share so much! I don't grow it, but find the facts interesting.
I love reading such posts where you educate us. Thank you so much, Tyra. It definitely looks like it's exuding romance! Beautiful one.
Sådana snygga inlägg du gör, Tyra! Riktiga konstverk.
Förlåt en stilla fråga; har du smakat Cikoria och hur smakar den isåfall? Alla vet ju, att man kan äta maskrosblad, men få gör det, man undrar varför. /Ruben
Jag får också sälla mig till skaran som beundrar dina inlägg- fina bilder och informativa texter. Trevligt (speciellt för oss andra som inte orkar och kan göra detsamma!). God helg!
Great post, I fancy that Roman recipe - sounds good to me.
Great tutorial on chicory, Tyra. I grow endives in my garden every year.
BTW yes, I am serious about a Dutch spring fling.
Kram, Yolanda
Intressant historielektion om cikoria! Denna vilda skönhet har boplats även på mitt Berg!
Ack! Ack! Tomaterna! NU måste jag få till det med en beställning....;))!
While I am reading your blog, Tyra, I am drinking coffee, and being from New Orleans, it is coffee and chicory! That combination is very popular around here, like you reported.
Have a great weekend.
Jan
Always Growing
En fantastiskt vacker lavendelblå färg. Mina föräldrar har den i sin trädgård i Frankrike, men nu ser jag att Anja också har den här. Så nu måste jag förstås också testa att odla den - men mest för färgens skull. Men hos Anja verkar ju ALLT trivas, så jag får väl se om den trivs hos mig.
Önskar dig en riktigt skön helg!
Kram Randi
Tyra,
What a beautiful flower! I read that it does not contain any caffeine, so if your coffee contains chicory, you are actually reducing your caffeine intake. Which may be a good thing, in some cases
Liisa
A simply quite beautiful flower Tyra. It's one that I keep planning to try but never have. Maybe this year :)
Enjoy your weekend.
I learnt something new today, Tyra, thanks to your history lesson. I did know that chicory has been used as a coffee substitute (I've even tasted it...but i prefer real coffee) but the rest was new to me. Intersting!
Enjoy your weekend! Katarina
En underbart blå färg. Är blått den populäraste och mest älskade utav alla våra färger?
Den påminner en del om Catananche caerulea, blå gräsfibbla.
trevlig helg
Birgitta
Jag såg förresten att man i Allers Trädgårds nästa nummer ska till ett "sanslöst vackert växthus"! Det ska bli kul! :-)
I LOVE this post and now you've kindled my interest in chicory. I know it as a coffee substitute. It shows up in health food products (the root, probably).But I have never grown it and will now explore. I particularly like the information about its early use.Fascinating! [I also am noticing my word verification is "blesse". So BLESSINGS, Tyra!] Kathryn xoxo
Her inne lærer man noe hver gang, flott blogg. Og så herlig med tomater. Her er det 25 kuldegrader og en halv meter snø, så jeg ser på kataloger, skriver lister og tegner opp ønsker for hagen.
Ha en fin Valentines day
Intressant som alltid hos dig. Att den fungerat som kaffesubstitut kände jag till men att den blev omskriven så tidigt visste jag inte. Hursom är färgen på blomman otroligt vacker, gillar mer och mer dessa lavendelblå färger!
Ha en trevlig helg!
Kram Karin
A lovely post! I knew that chickory was used a coffee substitute in the US during the Civil War, but didn't realize that it had such a rich culinary tradition.
After admiring it on roadsides for years, I got chickory in a trade last year and I love it. That soft powder blue is like nothing else.
Intersting Tyra. I had chicory coffee while in New Orleans a few years back. It is strong and I think you have to develop a taste for it. The flower is beautiful but only open five hours?? That's sad and way too short a life. You my friend are a wealth of knowledge! Happy Valentine's Day too!! XXOO
Very interesting, Tyra. The only 'skyscraper' in my hometown was an old chicory plant, abandoned after WW2, home to vagabonds jumping off the train, varments and pigeons. A handsome plant though a bit bitter for my taste. Valentine hugs, dear friend!
They are beautiful flowers but unfortunately I keep forgetting to allow a plant to flower. Perhaps I'll remember this year.
Great post about chicory. I remember a long time ago my mother used to mix the coffee with "Frank Aroma". It was still used in the sixties. I never use chicory in my coffee but I love chicorino rosso which grows here well. It's flowers are the typical blue chicory flowers.
Trevlig Alla Hjärtans dag, kram.
Thank you all for your lovely comments.
It is certainly great to read all your comments on this Chicory plant.
I hope I will get some new this year as well. The are often self sown i my garden, if not I will have to put down som seeds and let it go up in bloom.
xoxo Tyra
Great post. Loved all that information on the chicory and the bloom looks gorgeous!
A lovely summary Tyra. I found out last year we have chicory growing wild around here. It's such a cheerful plant to find.
Cikorian har en fantastiskt fin blåfärg. Hos mig växer den väldigt jag får kämpa emot spridningen men fin är den.
Jag har fått Allers trädgård och jag ser verkligen framemot nästa nummer då du och din trädgård finns med.
Va kul.
Ha en bra dag
Gunilla
I've just been enjoying your picutures on your 'Tyra's Pictures' blog - they really are fantastic!
Lucy
Hejsan Gunilla, lucky girl att ha cikoria som ogräs är inte fy skam. Då kanske du får ihop till ett kilo kaffe :-)
Visst skall det bli spännande att se reportaget i Allers Trädgård och det är mina egna bilder vilket jag tycker är jättekul.
Tyra
Kanak; VP and Lucy thank you for your nice comments.
VP, you are lucky to have the Chicory wild around where you live.
Nice of you to pop over to Tyra's Pictures blog and I'm delighted that you liked it :-)
Tyra
Hi Tyra, what a reservoir of information you have provided us with about the sweet chicory plant. It grows along the side of the roads here, and with the white queen anne's lace is what makes Tennessee so beautiful in summer. There is nothing like that sky blue color. It does not press well nor transplant well, so I just enjoy it when going on a drive in the country, usually to local nurseries! Double the fun. :-)
Frances
Hi Frances, how very nice to here that is grows a long your roads,now I have to look up this Queen Anne's lace, what a wonderful name!
Tyra
Daucus carota!
Oh... Frances it's a wild carrot.
I bet they are beautiful together the Chicory in blue and the white Queen ann's lace.
Tyra
Hello Tyra, I love the blue of chicory flowers. (I've never met a blue flower I didn't like!) They grow wild on the edge of many roads around here. I remember first reading about it as a teenager in one of my favorite books - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. The family used chicory to 'stretch out' their coffee since they were poor and couldn't afford full-strength coffee. I didn't know it had so many other culinary uses.
Hi Linda, you know when I think of it I cannot find one single blue flower that I don't like...they are just heavenly. :-)
I have planted some Blue poppy seeds again this year and I hope they will survive and give my some gorgeous blue flowers.
Tyra
Han höll sig vaken hela tiden. det var fyra akter och vi var där i sammanlagt tre och en halv timme. Wonderful!!
Kram
Hello Tyra the chicory has the most delicate blue flower..delightful!
Veronica så kul att du har en kille som gillar att följa med på Operan, grattis!
Hälsa Supermario från Mousch
Hi Anna, yes delicate is just the correct word for this flower.
I'm so longing to see it in my garden again.
I have to wait though it is still
-6 C here...but it is sunny today!
Tyra
This lovely flower grows wild here in abundance. The last half of summer, you can look just about anywhere and find it! I love its fringed petals and lovely lavender blue color.
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