- Season
- Sold all year, because the heads are forced indoors from stored roots. The traditional season and best supply run from October to April.
- Price
- Medium
- Nutrition per 100 g
- 17 kcal
- 0.9 g protein
- 0.1 g fat
- 4 g carbs
Belgian Endive
Herbs
Belgian Endive
Čekanka salátová, as sold in Czech shops, is Belgian endive or witloof (Cichorium intybus var. foliosum): small, pale yellowish-white heads 10–20 cm long, made of tightly closed leaves that are grown in the dark from chicory roots.
In practice
How to store
- On the counter
Not recommended. At room temperature and in light, the heads wilt, turn green and become more bitter within a day.
- In the fridge
Wrap the unwashed heads in paper or keep them in their dark packaging, and store them in the vegetable drawer at about 1–4 °C. They keep for 5–7 days. Keep them away from light and from ethylene-producing fruit such as apples and pears, which speed up browning.
- In the freezer
Not suitable raw, because the leaves turn limp and watery. Heads that have been braised or blanched for 3–4 minutes can be frozen for up to 3 months and used in gratins and cooked dishes.
How to choose
Choose firm, heavy, closed heads with tightly wrapped leaves. They should be creamy white with pale yellow tips (or red tips for čekanka červená). Avoid heads with green tips, because light exposure makes them more bitter. Also avoid heads with brown edges, a browned or slimy cut base, or leaves that are loosening. In Czech shops the heads are often sold in blue or dark paper or film, which keeps out light. Pick packs that have been kept in the chilled section and away from bright display lights.
What to swap in
Best swap
Red čekanka (čekanka červená) or radicchio for raw salads, bearing in mind that radicchio is more bitter and softer. For braising, use halved heads of radicchio or the hearts of escarole (endivie).
In a pinch
Crisp romaine or Little Gem lettuce hearts for raw dishes or as edible scoops. They lack the bitterness, so add a few rocket or dandelion leaves to make up for it.
Preparation
Rinse the heads briefly or wipe them clean. They grow in the dark in clean substrate or water, so they are seldom dirty, and long soaking makes them waterlogged and limp. Trim a thin slice off the browned base. For whole leaves, peel them off one by one, trimming the base again as you go. To reduce bitterness, cut out the cone-shaped hard core at the base with a small knife. Cut surfaces brown quickly, so slice just before serving or toss the leaves with lemon juice or dressing straight away. For braising, halve the heads lengthways or leave them whole.
Don't toss it
Slice the small inner hearts and outer leaves that are too small to fill into a quick salad with apple and walnuts. You can also add them to a pan of braised vegetables. Trimmed bases and cores can go into vegetable stock in small amounts, but they add bitterness. Gardeners can grow their own puky from witloof seed by digging up the roots in autumn and forcing them in a cool, dark cellar.
In the kitchen
Cooking
In Czech home cooking, čekanka is most often eaten raw. It is sliced into salads with apple, orange, walnuts and a yoghurt or honey-mustard dressing, or the single leaves are used as small boats for spreads, cheese or fish salads. Cooked, it is braised or pan-fried in butter. Halved heads are browned on the cut side, then covered and cooked gently with a little water or stock, lemon juice and a pinch of sugar for 15–20 minutes until tender. The classic Belgian gratin wraps braised heads in ham, covers them with béchamel and cheese, and bakes them at about 200 °C until golden. Halves can also be grilled or roasted with oil and honey, or the sliced heads can be stir-fried briefly and added to risotto or pasta.
Goes well with
- Walnuts
- Apples
- Pears
- Oranges
- Blue Cheese
- Goat Cheese
- Ham
- Butter
- Cream
- Honey
- Mustard
- Lemon
- Beetroot
- Smoked Fish
What it is
Čekanka salátová, as sold in Czech shops, is Belgian endive or witloof (Cichorium intybus var. foliosum): small, pale yellowish-white heads 10–20 cm long, made of tightly closed leaves that are grown in the dark from chicory roots. Czech retailers often label it čekanka bílá or čekanka puková, and the heads are called puky. It is mostly imported from the Netherlands and Belgium and is usually sold whole, loose or in packs of two to three heads. A red-tipped form, čekanka červená, is sold alongside it. It is a different product from endivie (Cichorium endivia), the curly frisée and broad-leaved escarole that Czech shops sell as open, leafy salad heads. Root chicory, which is roasted to make the coffee substitute known in Czech as cikorka, is grown from the same species as witloof but from other cultivars.
How it tastes
Crisp, juicy and watery, with a clean bitterness balanced by a faint sweetness and a nutty note. The pale leaf tips are mildest. Most of the bitterness sits in the solid core at the base and in any leaves that have turned green. Cooking softens the bitterness and brings out the sweetness, especially when the heads are browned in butter or caramelised.
Common questions
Is čekanka salátová the same as endivie?
How do I make čekanka less bitter?
Why is čekanka sold wrapped in dark paper?
Can I eat čekanka raw?
Can I grow čekanka salátová at home?
Deep dive
3 min read
Varieties
White witloof (čekanka bílá)
is the standard product in Czech shops: creamy white heads with yellow tips, mostly from the Netherlands and Belgium.
Red witloof (čekanka červená)
is a forced witloof bred to have red-edged leaves. It is grown and sold the same way, has similar crispness and is slightly more bitter. Retailers such as Rohlik sell it from the Netherlands.
Cultivars for home growing
are sold by Czech seed companies under the name čekanka salátová, for example the old Belgian type Mechelse Middelvroeg. Gardeners use them to produce roots for forcing.
Related but different products
radicchio and other loose-leaf or headed red chicories (čekanka listová) belong to the same species but are mostly grown in the open, and apart from late Treviso radicchio, which is blanched in the dark, they are not forced into tight pale heads. Endivie, meaning frisée and escarole, is a separate species, Cichorium endivia. Root chicory (čekanka obecná kořenová) is grown for roasted chicory coffee (cikorka) and for inulin, not as a salad vegetable.
History
Witloof (Flemish for 'white leaf') comes from Belgium. It was developed in the Brussels area in the 19th century, when growers found that chicory roots kept in the dark produced pale, tender, mildly bitter shoots. It spread to the Netherlands and France and became a standard winter vegetable in Western Europe. In Czechia it was long considered a speciality. Czech gardening literature describes forcing puky in cellars as a home-growing technique, and imported heads are now a regular item in supermarkets and online grocers.
Science
Witloof is grown in two stages. In the first year, seed is sown outdoors in late spring and the plants build up a thick taproot over the summer. In autumn the roots are dug up, the leaves are cut off and the roots are put in cold storage. They are then forced in complete darkness, usually in water or in a moist substrate at around 15–20 °C. Within about 3–4 weeks each root produces one tight head, using the carbohydrates stored in the root.
Because the heads grow without light, they hardly form any chlorophyll, which is why they are pale. If they are exposed to light after harvest, they start to turn green and the bitter compounds increase. The bitterness comes mainly from sesquiterpene lactones such as lactucin and lactucopicrin, which are concentrated at the base and core. Browning of cut surfaces is caused by the oxidation of phenolic compounds, which acid such as lemon juice slows down.
Sourcing and ethics
Most witloof sold in Czechia is imported from the Netherlands and Belgium. Forcing takes place indoors all year, often hydroponically in cooled, dark growing rooms, so supply does not depend on the outdoor season. Forcing needs energy for cooling and climate control, and the roots must be grown in the field first. Small amounts are grown in Czech gardens, where gardeners force the roots in cellars over winter. The country of origin must be stated on the label under EU marketing rules for fresh fruit and vegetables, so shoppers can check where the heads come from. Organic (bio) witloof is available from some retailers.