Endive is one of those words where how you pronounce it says as much about you as the word itself. There are two camps: ON-deev and end-IVE. I’m sure one of them is correct and one of them isn’t (my guess is ON-deev is correct since that sounds more authentically French) and I am guilty of using both pronunciations interchangeably.
Which is all to say that I assembled the salad you see above last week after watching (who else?) the Barefoot Contessa do it on TV. It’s super easy. There are four primary ingredients: endive, toasted walnuts, sliced pear and crumbled Roqeufort.
The dressing (off the top of my head) is dijon mustard, white wine vinegar, an egg yolk (or mayonnaise), salt, pepper and olive oil (which you drizzle in). Toss the sliced pear in the dressing and place on top of the endive which you’ve cut the ends off of and pulled apart. Pour the remaining dressing on top, add the toasted walnuts and crumbled Roquefort and you’ve got yourself a salad. With a small mini-baguette, you even have yourself a dinner. Think how sophisticated you will be!
How did the Contessa pronounce it? I’ll go with that one. =)
From a Belgian: If it’s Belgian endive, it’s en-DIVE, so I apply that rule to curly endive as well.
Or avoid controversy by calling Belgian endive witlof. Mind you it’s harder to pronounce
The Contessa pronounces it “ON-deev,” and since I like her so well, I’ll also go with that one.
I’ve always pronounced it “ON-deev.” Since Spring has FINALLY peeked its head around here in the East Bay, that salad looks mighty good!
That salad is making me hungry for lunch.
Have you ever tried Grilled Endive (or if you don’t have a grill, Pan sauteed endive) It is incrdible. You can top it with a vinegarette or some melted goat or bleu cheese and it makes a great side dish.
Since Ina says ON-dive, I will go wil en-DIVE.
I can’t figure out how to say en-DIVE.
EN-dive, yes, but not en-DIVE.
I demand mp3 soundclips, Adam! Or perhaps a movie, set to song!
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Pears and Bleu Cheese are SALAD SOUL MATES.
Or you could just go the British route and call it chicory. :)
I agree with Annie; pears and bleu cheese are so fabulous. I love mixing greens with sliced pears, green apple and gorgonzola with toasted pine nuts and a raspberry vinaigrette.