[Chicon]

California company grows exotic crop niche

Julia Hollister
Freelance Writer

RIO VISTA � In the middle of this fertile San Joaquin Delta delicate heads of California endive grow not in the baking sun but in complete darkness.

�Growing endive (pronounced on-DEEV) is a two-part process,� said Richard Collins, founder and president of California Vegetable Specialties. �In short, the chicory seeds are grown in the soil, harvested and placed in cold storage.�

The process is complex. Seeds are sown in the spring and grow through summer, producing a root the size of a large carrot by fall. At this stage the roots are topped, harvested and placed in cold storage.

When needed, the roots are removed from storage and placed in growing trays in dark, humid forcing rooms, similar to mushroom production.

Under these controlled conditions the vegetable is fooled into thinking it�s winter and the root�s bud grows to produce small, tight, creamy heads of endive. Nutrients are added making the growing conditions resemble hydroponics. It is picked, handed trimmed and packed for distribution.

�I guess I got interested in growing endive by accident when I was in high school and working a summer job as a dishwasher in a French restaurant in Sacramento,� Collins said. �The owner knew I grew some vegetables and wanted to be a farmer. He was cooking for a birthday party and asked me if I knew the name of the small white vegetable he was braising. I said �No�. He said it was Belgium endive that he paid $4 a pound. He also said I should be growing it because no one was growing it commercially.�

Collins bought a package of seeds for about 89 cents and that first crop was not successful. But he turned to the University of California-Davis and began to dig up information. He went to Europe in 1982 and lived in France, Belgium and Holland learning to grow the vegetable that was discovered there, also by accident.

In the winter of 1830, a Belgium farmer forgot about some chicory roots he had in his cool, dark cellar. He had intended to use them as a coffee substitute but by early spring he found they had sprouted beautiful, blanched buds from the tops of the roots. He tasted it and liked the crunchy, slightly bitter taste. This new winter vegetable quickly gained popularity.

�The people I met in Europe were happy to share endive information with me,� Collins said.

Collins began commercial production on 5 acres in 1983 and soon began a collaborative effort with a French horticultural producer. California Vegetable Specialties has growers throughout Northern California and provides endive year-round from its 30,000 square-foot production facility.

�There is no other endive producer in the United States although there are a sprinkling in Canada,� he said �We knew there was a California market for endive because of the food revolution in the late �70s when people became more versed in food choices.�

The company ships California Pearl white endive and Belles Rouges (a red variety) all over the world. One of its biggest markets is the cruise ships that sail from Florida. Other lucrative markets are the French restaurants in the Far East.

A package of endive includes Collins� favorite salad recipe: endive with roasted walnuts, blue cheese and a ripe pear drizzled with a vinaigrette of canola oil, rice vinegar, Dijon mustard and a shallot.

�I would say our biggest competitor is ignorance (about endive),� Collins said. �Luckily in the last years people are willing to be informed about different tastes and less frequently people are asking what is on their plate.�

link : http://www.capitalpress.info/main.as...89&TM=5225.105

Endives are called chicons in Belgium ! Yummy !

[poochee]

Interesting article. I live in Sacramento, not far from Rio Vista. I have eaten endive in restaurants, but have never prepared it.

[SIR****TMG]

nice...........