Why it works: Endive and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 108 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
Stewed Endive
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the endive
Wash and free the endive thoroughly from insects, remove the green part of the leaves, and put it into boiling water, slightly salted.
Let it remain for ten minutes; then take it out, drain it till there is no water remaining and chop it very fine.
Stew and serve
Put it into a stewpan with the broth, add a little salt and a lump of sugar, and boil until the endive is perfectly tender.
When done, which may be ascertained by squeezing a piece between the thumb and finger, add a thickening of butter and flour and the lemon juice; let the sauce boil up and serve.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 2 of 3 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 2 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Endive | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Endive + lemontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together108 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Endive
- Forms the bulk of the dish and becomes tender as it stews in the broth.
- Broth
- Cooks the endive and forms the liquid base of the sauce.
- Butter and flour (in the method)
- Thicken the broth into a sauce that coats the endive.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the mild, slightly bitter endive and sauce.
The step that matters
Testing for tenderness before thickening. The endive must be fully tender before the butter and flour are added, because the sauce thickens quickly and the stewing liquid will not soften the leaves once thickened. Squeezing a piece between thumb and finger shows whether it is done.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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