WILD CHICORY

These are wild chicory flowers. It grows along the roadsides at this time of year, almost always combined with the white cow's parsley (?) and makes a pretty picture. I have it on good authority from The Quiet Plodder in Australia that chicory is a cure for writer's block and bad cooking. It is good for many other things as well but these two cures jumped out of the list at me inasmuch as I am afflicted with both. Clearly, I need lots of chicory.

The cultivated version has lots of uses, too. There are many varieties and they include radicchio, sugar loaf, endive and others, all used in salads and in cooking. Then there is the root which can be, and is, roasted, ground up and used as a coffee substitute or additive. Dandelion root can be used in the same way. The bitter taste of wild chicory leaves is prized in some parts of Italy. I must learn to prize it, too.