Cleaning endives


Cleaning endives
If you buy your endives elsewhere than in supermarkets, and in this case the best is of course from a market gardener, he or she is the one who planted and harvested them, in this case you will have endives full of earth or sand, depending on where they were grown, which is normal and reassuring, we know where they come from.

How to wash/clean them efficiently? That's what we'll see in this post.
23 K 4.6/5 (18 reviews)
Grade this page:
Keywords for this post:EndivesCleaningSoilSandAdvice
Last modified on: March 24th 2020
For this post: Comment Follow Send to a friend
Cleaning endives
When it comes to cleaning, the classic way is to cut the base, then remove the leaves from around the endive, until you have a very clean vegetable. Classic, but not great, the loss is important, especially if the endive comes from the sand, you have to remove a lot of leaves (too many), to have one ready to be used in a recipe.

Can we do better?

Yes, it is better to wash it in fact, before trimming it, but this washing should not be done like for another vegetable, by soaking them in water for example. On the contrary, on the one hand they get waterlogged if you do that, but on the other hand a small part of the sand that was on the turn will end up in the endive, and when tasted it will crunch under the tooth very unpleasantly.

No, here's the thing, in fact it's better to proceed like this: Run a trickle of warm water from the tap, and put the endive underneath one by one, with the head down, like this:

nettoyage endives




This way, the sand goes into the sink, the endive does not get waterlogged, and the peeling after drying with a cloth, will consist in removing 1 or 2 leaves from the turn, not more, or even none.

You will note that on the photographs they are red endives, with the season alas even shorter, but which are less bitter than the yellow ones, and of a superb esthetics which make it possible, inter alia, to make a little of decoration in your receipts/plates at little expenses.

One last point about the plastic endive from the supermarket, you have probably noticed that they are absolutely clean, not a grain of sand or dirt. Is it normal knowing that it comes from the earth or sand? To look like this on the shelves, you have to imagine that they must have received a shock treatment, probably not neutral, which have scoured them, or even more. In short, trust your local grower who plants locally.


To sum up: Wash your endives under a trickle of warm water, upside down, before drying them and trimming them.

Lasts posts
Always secure your cutting board
Always secure your cutting board
When using a cutting board, it's very important that it's stable and doesn't move while you're cutting, for safety's sake. Boards have a natural tendency to slide on the work surface, but here are 2 ways to block them effectively.
July 1st 20255515
Cherry clafoutis, with or without pits?
Cherry clafoutis, with or without pits?
When it comes to cherry clafoutis recipes, there's often a camp of those who argue that you absolutely have to leave the stones in because it tastes better, and the other camp (myself included) who prefer cherries without stones, which makes a much more pleasant clafoutis to eat. But is it true...
June 29th 20256885
Should potatoes be washed twice?
Should potatoes be washed twice?
Let's say you have to make a recipe that includes potatoes, let's say sliced, you'll most likely proceed as follows: Peel the potatoes, wash them, slice them, wash them again, pat them dry and add them to your recipe. But there's a "but": depending on the recipe, the second washing may be a bad...
May 19th 20252,297 15
Grilled bacon is much better in the oven
Grilled bacon is much better in the oven
Some recipes call for thin slices of bacon to be cooked and added to the recipe, or to prepare one of those delicious breakfasts known as "à l'Anglaise".
April 25th 20252,0575
The thermometer is your friend
The thermometer is your friend
There are many recipes or foods that require a (very) precise cooking temperature: foie gras, sugar for caramel, meats and fish, and not forgetting pastries. For these few examples, getting the cooking temperature wrong can spoil the whole recipe or dish: undercooked, it's no good or misses the...
April 10th 20252,3775

Other pages you may also like
Drawing a pattern in pastry
Drawing a pattern in pastry
Often in the kitchen, in pastry-making, or in baking, we need to trace a pattern on a pastry. It's just a question of aesthetics but it has its effect after baking on a galette, pithiviers, pâté en croute (terrine in a pie crust), etc.
May 23th 201931 K4.1
Baking a cake at the right time
Baking a cake at the right time
When you make a cake, which most likely contains butter, a cake for example, chances are that as soon as the batter is finished, you put it in the pan and bake it immediately. Classic, everyone does it like that, and then if, on top of that, you have a few kids around you who are getting...
April 18th 202018 K4.5
Sorrel and its cooking
Sorrel and its cooking
Do you like sorrel? This delicious plant with its beautiful bright green leaves, whose subtle acidity goes very well with many other things, including in particular cream, to form with salmon the emblematic dish of the 70's, "Salmon with sorrel" on which was built the beginning of the fame of the...
March 19th 20229,2145
Fruits which can ruin your jelly
Fruits which can ruin your jelly
There are many ways of making a fruit mousse, but one of the simplest is to prepare a fruit jelly (basically a fresh fruit coulis with gelatine) and then mix this jelly before it sets completely with whipped cream. The result is perfect for filling a charlotte, for example. But do beware;...
March 6th 201374 K4.0
The 3 kinds of meringue
The 3 kinds of meringue
Meringue – what could be simpler? Just beaten egg whites with sugar added. This makes a fairly stiff mixture which can then be cooked in a cool oven to create those lovely, light confections. But in the world of professional patisserie, meringue comes in three different kinds. Even if the...
June 14th 201361 K4.5
Post a comment or question
Posted by:
I am not a leaving thing

Follow this page
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
I am not a leaving thing
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.

Back to top of page