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.
27 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 Ask me a question 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
A tablet holder
A tablet holder
Perhaps you too cook by consulting your recipe on a tablet or phone, and putting it down on your worktop? It's practical, but not the best solution. Here's a look at how you can make an inexpensive, almost universal stand.
March 14th 20263645
Pre-calibrated pastry dough
Pre-calibrated pastry dough
When making pie dough (shortbread, shortcrust, sweet...), it's always a good idea to make a lot at once, and then divide it into pieces, which you can freeze. I've already pointed out the mistake not to make, which is to form a ball before freezing. It's difficult to roll out afterwards because...
March 9th 20268215
Butter vs. grease
Butter vs. grease
We often read in a recipe where a pastry is put into a mould that, just before pouring, the mould should be buttered or greased. But what's the difference between these 2 terms?
December 1st 20252,9225
Getting out of the fridge early
Getting out of the fridge early
Very often when you're cooking, you need to take food or preparations out of the fridge, to use them in the recipe in progress. There's nothing tricky about this: you just take them out of the fridge and use them, usually immediately, in the recipe. But is this really a good method?
November 24th 20251,8805
Who's making the croissants?
Who's making the croissants?
When you look at a bakery from the outside, you naturally think that in the bakery, the bakers make the bread, and in the laboratory, the pastry chefs make the cakes. It's very often like that, with each of these professions having quite different ways of working, but sometimes there's also one...
November 23th 20251,707

Other pages you may also like
What is the difference between bakery and patisserie?
What is the difference between bakery and patisserie?
This is a question that you may well have asked yourself and which I will attempt to answer. In France the two trades of "boulangerie" (bakery) and "pâtisserie" (patisserie and confectionery) have always been quite distinct, but where exactly do the boundaries lie? .
February 7th 2017136 K 14.1
The beautiful story of the croissants
The beautiful story of the croissants
As you may have already noticed, cooking, baking and pastry-making are full of stories or legends, usually very romantic, about this or that product or recipe. This is often the case for named recipes, for example tarte tatin, peach melba, paris-brest and many others, but it also applies to very...
October 10th 201820 K5
Soup vs. potage
Soup vs. potage
It's true that we're finally coming out of winter as I write these lines, and that we'll all be making, no doubt, a little less soup and potages, but even if it's out of season, it really is a simple and delicious dish, which is one of the always easy answers to "What's for dinner this (Sunday)...
April 9th 202212 K
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 201379 K4.0
One should cover a pan while heating?
One should cover a pan while heating?
You've probably heard it before: "Cover your pan, it'll boil faster", but is it true? Let's find out.
February 27th 201532 K 13.4
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