Daisies
Magnolias
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Chicory - Endive
- [Asteraceae Cichorium]
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Catalogna Chicory -
[Italian Dandelion, Cutting Chicory, C. intybus]
A mildly bitter chicory popular in Italy and widely available in the
USA. There are also cultivars with red stems, and sometimes white
ones will show red streaks. Chicory is generally used raw to pep up
salads with fairly heavy dressings, but can also be cooked and will then
be milder. The photo specimen was 16 inches long and weighed 13 ounces.
Chicory Root -
[C. intybus var. sativum]
Chicory Root has long been an adulterant in coffee and sometimes a
substitute. In East Germany Mischkaffee, a mixture of chicory,
sugar beet and rye was used during a coffee shortage before the fall of
the Berlin Wall.
Photo © i0130.
Belgian Endive -
[Witloof, French Endive, Cichorium intybus]
This very bitter chicory is pulled from the field and the green top cut
off. Replanted in darkness the roots grow new leaves which lack green
chlorophyll and are also much less bitter. This process explains the
rather high price, but the flavor/texture combination just can't be found
elsewhere and is essential to some recipes. The photo specimen was 5 inches
long and weighed 4-3/4 ounces.
Belgian Endive - Red
Eager to entertain (and pick up a little yuppie cash), California
growers are now marketing a red variety of Belgian Endive. I found the
taste indistinguishable from the regular white but the heads were
smaller, looser and more expensive. Use it if the color is important
to you. The photo specimens were 5 inches long and weighed 2-1/4
ounces each.
Curly Endive & Frisée
- [Cichorium endivia]
A plant from India (Cichorium endivia) valued as a salad green. The
Curly variety has fairly narrow leaves with ruffled edges while on the
Frisée variety the leaf is both curly and very deeply cut making it
quite frizzy. Of course there are many cultivars ranging from one extreme
to the other.
Escarole -
[Cichorium endivia]
Escarole is less bitter than most chicories and has broad light green
leaves and a very flat head. It is commonly used as a salad green but
more mature heads may be cooked as a green side dish.
The photo specimen was 13 inches across and weighed 13 ounces.
Radicchio -
[Cichorium intybus]
A moderately bitter chicory that looks like a head of lettuce in the
field. In Italy they have also an all white version but in the US the
spherical red and white Radicchio di Chioggia variety is most common but
an elongated red and white Treviso variety that
looks like a big red Belgian endive is
also seen. This is a fairly expensive lettuce because of the production
method. In the field they are green. To make them purely red and white they
are pulled from the ground and put in water in a dark room until the
chlorophyll has faded from lack of light. This is labor and capital intensive
and a lot of outer leaves are lost in the process resulting in
the high price.
The larger of the photo specimens was 4 inches diameter and weighed
9-1/2 ounces.
Details & Cooking.
Radicchio Treviso
- [Cichorium intybus]
This is simply an elongated variety of the regular round
Radicchio di Chioggia. It tastes the same and can
be used the same unless leaf shape is important to your application,
but it's likely to be even more expensive. The
photo specimens was 7 inches long, 2-3/4 inches diameter and weighed 7
ounces.
Details & Cooking.
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Dandelion -
[Dent-de-lion (Old French), Pissenlit (French), Taraxacum officinale]
Originating in Eurasia and now infesting lawns worldwide, this common
weed is a highly successful member of the vast daisy family
(Asteraceae). Its long taproot makes it very difficult to eradicate
and its efficient windblown seed dispersal system assures reinfection. It
prefers temperate climate and moist soil, which is why it has such an
affinity for lawns. The photo specimen leaves were up to 14 inches long, but
they are sold up to about 16 inches.
The plant has both medicinal and culinary value. Young leaves are used
raw in salads while older ones are more often cooked or added to soups. .
Under their bitterness the leaves have considerable sweetness and have a
particular affinity for eggs. Roots are used, as are chicory roots, to make
a coffee substitute, and flower heads are used to make dandelion wine. The
leaves are a strong diuretic, thus the French name Pissenlit (wet the bed).
Herbalists consider dandelion a general tonic and "blood cleanser".
Details and Cooking.
Salsify -
[Oyster Plant, Vegetable Oyster, Purple Salsify, Goatsbeard:
Tragopogon porrifolius]
Native to the Mediterranean region of Europe, this plant has been introduced
to other regions, and now grows wild in almost every state of North America
(except the deep Southeast). Salsify has been known to herbalists since
ancient times and has been grown not only for its flowers, but for edible
roots and stems. The roots are noted for tasting like oysters, thus the
alternate names.
This vegetable was popular in England in the 18th century but today is
eaten mostly in France, Italy and Russia. It has, however, in recent times
often been displaced by Spanish Salsify (Black Salsify,
Scorzonera hispanica), a different genus with much broader leaves
and yellow flowers rather than purple. The photo specimens were
20 inches long, the root parts being about 7 inches and almost 3/4 inch
diameter at the top. Details and
Cooking.
Salsify - Black
- [Spanish salsify, Black oyster plant, Serpent root,
Viper's herb, Viper's grass, Scorzonera; Scorzonera hispanica]
Native to the Near East and souteastern Europe, this salsify has much
wider leaves and longer roots than traditional salsify, and the roots
are very dark brown with a corky bark. The roots are not easy to peel
and exude a very sticky latex, and peeled root needs to be immediately
submerged in water soured with citric acid or lemon juice to prevent
browning. Supposedly you can was the latex off your hands with vinegar.
Photo by Rasbak distributed under license Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike v3.0 Unported.
Lettuce -
[Lactuca sativa]
The first depiction of lettuce is from Egypt just under 4000 years
ago, but it had been in use there in much earlier times. Egyptian lettuce
was similar to our wild lettuce, and similarly reputed to have opiate (and
aphrodisiac) properties. Mature lettuce "bolts", sending up a central
stalk with many branches holding small dandelion-like flowers. It
becomes more bitter and opiate-like when it bolts. Lettuce is a significant
source of Lithium.
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Butter Lettuce -
[Butterhead, Boston, Bib or Limestone]
These are very tender loose leaf lettuces often packed in individual
plastic containers to protect them from damage. Of the two main
varieties, Bib Lettuce is the smaller and considered the more flavorful,
but Boston Lettuce is a suitable substitute. Packages I've seen in
Southern California do not use either designation but simply call the
contents "Butter Lettuce". The package often includes roots and a
hydroponic growing matrix to extend shelf life.
Green Leaf Lettuce
Green Leaf is too tender to be a good industrial product but it's a very
fine base for quality salads. Plenty of lettuce flavor with very moderate
bitterness and good color. The photo specimen, squished a bit flat in
shipping, as they always are, was 14 inches wide, 10 inches from stem to
tip and weighed 13 ounces.
Iceberg Lettuce - [Crisphead
lettuce]
Crisphead is actually the correct name, but nobody calls it that name.
This head lettuce is the darling of the lettuce industry and the fast
food chains. It's easy to handle and stands up well to processing and
shipping abuse. The fast food people like it because it's easy to shred,
bulks up a salad well and stays crisp and bulky for quite a while after
shredding.
This lettuce was originally (and still is) grown in Salinas,
California. It was put on trains, packed with ice and shipped as far as
Maine year round, thus called "iceberg lettuce". It was very much
welcomed during New England winters.
Crisphead lettuce contains a lot of water and is 1/5th or less
nutritious as loose leaf lettuce. It has rather little lettuce flavor or
bitterness but can be useful for recipes that call for lettuce wedges and
such or where texture is more important than flavor or nutrition. It's
also easy to store in the fridge compared to leaf lettuce. The photo
specimen, a somewhat smallish one, was 5 inches diameter and weighed
1-1/3 pound.
Mâche Lettuce
Not actually lettuce, but a member of the Valerian family.
Red Leaf Lettuce
Very similar to Green Leaf Lettuce except for the
color. For taste and texture the two are interchangeable. The color is
caused by anthocyanin pigments which are the same antioxidants found
in red cabbage and red wine.
Romaine Lettuce -
[Cos Lettuce]
The second most common lettuce in America after Iceberg
and the sturdiest of the leaf lettuces. It's shape and stiffness make it
relatively easy to handle but it does have quite a bit more lettuce flavor
than iceberg does. It is called for by many recipes where the leaf shape
and stiffness is desirable. The photo specimen was 13 inches high. It is
often used as a foundation layer on a platter with the featured items
placed over it.
Ruby Lettuce
Pretty much the same as Red Leaf Lettuce except for
being all deep red with almost no green. For taste and texture the two are
interchangeable. The color is caused by anthocyanin pigments which are the
same antioxidants found in red cabbage and red wine.
A Choy - [Taiwan Lettuce,
Chinese Lettuce; Yu Mai Tsai (China)]
This is the only common leaf lettuce in China and is popular in stir
fries in Taiwan. It is always cooked - raw salads are not eaten in China
due to unsanitary growing conditions. This lettuce is now widely available
in markets serving a Chinese community - well it is here in Southern
California anyway. It is much like a romaine lettuce, but more bitter
Stem Lettuce - [Celtuce,
Celery Lettuce, Asparagus Lettuce, Chinese Lettuce; Wosun, Woju (China);
L. sativa var asparagina alt var augustana,
var angustata]
This lettuce is grown mainly for its stem, which is peeled and sliced or
diced and used in stir fries. The flavor is fairly mild, much like a
slightly bitter cucumber, so it's usually paired with stronger flavored
items. The photo specimens were about 17 inches long (not counting leaves),
1.6 inches diameter and weighed about 8 ounces each. The form shown with a
crown of leaves is how it is generally sold. The leaves are like Romaine
leaves but tougher and more bitter, but stand up better to cooking. The
Chinese do not eat raw greens for reasons you'd probably rather not
dwell on.
Details and Cooking.
Wild Lettuce -
[prickly lettuce, Lactuca serriola]
This is where it all came from, a wild plant with a bitter milky sap.
When the plant matures it will "bolt", sending up a central stalk
topped with a group of small dandelion-like flowers. The bitter sap
is a mild opiate, particularly when the lettuce bolts. The photo shows
leaves of very young plants, the leaf margins become deeply cut,
ragged and pointy looking.
While wild lettuce is much stronger, other loose-leaf lettuces have
similar properties. Some years back I observed that the loose-leaf
lettuce in a friend's garden had bolted. Connie remarked that it
wasn't as good as before but they were still using it. They were
also wondering why they were falling asleep right after their salad
(served at the end of dinner in their household).
My pigeons used to rip into the wild lettuce, then go and flake out
on the roof, often lying upside-down. Unfortunately they can't do that
anymore - there are too many hawks now.
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Health & Nutrition
Lettuces vary a little in nutritional content, but they are all
very high in vitamin A and beta carotene (which converts to vitamin
A). The redder the variety, the more they have. They also contain
good quantities of Vitamin K, Vitamin C, foliates, zia-xanthin and
B complex, as well as a good selection of minerals and antioxidants.
Lettuces are all very low in calories (15 per 100 grams) and are fat
free. They do contain oxalic acid, but only 0.33mg per 100 grams.
Lettuces are known to help prevent osteoporosis and iron-deficiency
anemia, and are suspected to be beneficial for cardiovascular disease,
ARMD, Alzheimer's disease and cancers. Of course, all this is subject
to our CloveGarden Medical Disclaimer.
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