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Escarole
Cichorium endivia · Leafy green
40 pairings
Escarole (Cichorium endivia var. latifolia), also called broad-leaved endive, Batavian endive or scarole, is a leafy chicory grown as a loose, open head of wide, slightly wavy, dull-green outer leaves that pale to a tender, creamy-white or yellow heart. Crisp and only mildly bitter, it is eaten raw in salads but is most prized cooked — wilted, braised or sautéed, and famously stewed with beans in southern Italian cooking — where heat softens the leaf and mellows its chicory bitterness into a sweet, silky green.
Picking a good onedrag
Squeaky, pale-hearted, just cutYellow, limp, brown at the butt
Shop crispThe all-rounder: heart in salad, outer leaves wilted with garlic.Everyday best
Cut baseRim tanned, the cut face dried over
The midribSnaps, but the break face is only damp
Leaf and heartGreen, outer edges dulling, heart still firm
Smell at the baseGreen and neutral, almost nothing
What to look for, from squeaky, pale-hearted, just cut to yellow, limp, brown at the butt.
What one gives you
86%
Usable yield
513 g · outer leaves and core out
597 g
Typical weight
one specimen
Keeping ittap a band
A domestic fridge holds it about 5× longer than the counter.
Humidity
95-100%
Damp is the whole game - bag it or lay a wet cloth over it; in bare fridge air the outer leaves go leathery overnight.
Airflow
Vented, never sealed
It breathes hard for a leaf even at 0 C; sealed tight the bag sweats and soft rot climbs up through the cut base.
Ethylene yellows the leaves
It gives off almost none itself but Handbook 66 marks it ethylene-damaged: apples or bananas nearby yellow the outer leaves within days.