Re: chicory - more than you really want to know

  This publication has, from time to time, reported on the ongoing discussion 
concerning native plants as opposed to "invasive aliens," and the political 
aspects of this matter.  As we drive through the countryside this month, surely 
we enjoy the beauty of blue Chicory flowers and white Queen Anne's Lace that 
line our roadsides.  And yet, neither of these plants is native to this 
continent, and both can be considered invasive under certain circumstances.  
  Chicory (Cichorium intybus) has been cultivated for at least 5,000 years 
for medicinal and culinary properties, some of which are still recognized today. 
 The name, chicory, is thought to be of Egyptian origin, and with only minor 
variations, has been absorbed into virtually every European language. The 
other name of chicory, endive is derived from another ancient Eastern name, 
hendibeh.  Yes, both types of endive; the rather rough bitter greens we pronounce to 
rhyme with "dive", and the fancy, expensive, blanched, tightly-wrapped, heads 
we pronounce in the French fashion as "ahn-deeve" are varieties of chicory.
  Early Greeks and Romans enjoyed chicory both as a vegetable and as a salad 
ingredient.  Charlemagne demanded that chicory be planted in his gardens, and 
the French drank a coffee-like brew of the root before coffee itself was 
introduced into Europe in the sixteenth century.
  Queen Elizabeth I drank a broth made from chicory, though it was not much 
planted in England in her day.  
  Thomas Jefferson considered chicory "a tolerable sallad for the table."  He 
raised his chicory from seeds it is believed he imported from Italy.  In 
1795, he recommended the plant to fellow farmer, George Washington, as a fine 
cattle fodder.  
  To this day, in some parts of Europe and the American South the favorite 
coffee contains a blend of chicory.  One author notes that chicory is never a 
coffee substitute - it's a coffee flavorer. Fine chefs in New Orleans consider a 
10% chicory blend to be optimal, but in the bayou country, a 25% blend is 
favored.  To obtain this, the root is dried and ground, and really looks just 
like coffee.  However, although it contains 10 of the 24 chemical ingredients of 
coffee, it has no caffeine.
  In addition to chicory's use as a vegetable, for which it is extensively 
grown in Belgium, chicory has a long history of medicinal uses, especially for 
problems of the liver.  It has also been credited with sharpening the appetite, 
relieving urinary infections and ridding the body of impurities.  A decoction 
of the root was long considered beneficial to diabetics, as it lowers 
blood-sugar levels.  It was also recommended to relieve arthritis and gout, and as a 
treatment for jaundice.
  And finally, we may add the brilliant blue blossoms to our list of edible 
flowers.  They make a colorful addition to salads if picked early in the day, 
but they are morning-bloomers and fade with the passage of the day.  There is 
an early-seventeenth century recipe for a conserve of chicory flowers which was 
sometimes used in the treatment of tuberculosis.
  These versatile and useful plants may be cultivated in the garden, but they 
also freely adorn our roadsides, often accompanied by the delicate white 
discs of wild carrot, Daucus carota or Queen Anne's Lace.  This member of the 
Umbellifera or Parsley family bears the same botanical name as the cultivated 
carrot.  Like chicory, carrots have been cultivated since the earliest times 
throughout the Mediterranean basin.  The word carota, was used by both early Greeks 
and Romans, and modern Greeks still call the carrot karoto.  
  Carrots were not introduced to the British Isles until the reign of 
Elizabeth I, when it was brought by Protestant Flemings fleeing their homeland to 
escape religious persecution by Philip II of Spain.  Fashionable ladies quickly 
adopted the delicate leaves and flowers to adorn their headdresses. It was a 
favorite of Queen Anne, but it is not clear how the legend developed that 
credits the single dark red floret in the center of each flower-head to a drop of 
the monarch's blood when she pricked her finger while making lace.  
   Although both wild and cultivated carrots are rich sources of vitamin A, 
and have been valued for their antiseptic and other medicinal properties since 
ancient times, the wild ones are considered medicinally superior.  All parts 
of the plant are used, and the list of conditions for which it is beneficial is 
extensive.  
   A pulp of the freshly-grated root is used to treat all sorts of skin 
diseases.  A decoction of the roots is recommended as a remedy for coughs, asthma, 
flatulence, stomach ulcers, kidney stones, and to improve night vision.
   In France, studies have indicated that drinking a wineglassful of fresh 
juice of the roots promotes immunity to upper respiratory infections.
  The green leaves, macerated in honey, provide a soothing treatment for open 
sores and ulcers.
  Even the little red floret has been credited with medicinal virtues.  
Chewing it was believed to prevent epileptic seizures.
  Given all these virtues, should we not be thankful that we have been 
invaded by these aliens? T

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Support hort.net -- join the hort.net fund drive!
http://www.hort.net/funds/
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index