Category: all year

Garlic Soup

11 June 2026

A few weeks ago John Rieber wrote about the miracle of garlic. He also explains the 10-minute rule and the way it creates additional benefits when using garlic. His post includes a recipe for a garlicky soup, a variation of Avgolemono.

The post made us think of ‘knofsoep’ (in English it would be ‘garsoup’) as described by author, poet and performer Johnny Van Doorn in 1988. He was known for his ecstatic performances, enabled by the use of various substances. His knofsoep, based on a recipe from Roman times, helped him through the day. The soup is uplifting, supports overall health and more specifically the liver. It is to be served with crusted bread and a glass of wine.
We adjusted the recipe slightly by using vegetable stock and adding some chives. The soup has a very mild, sweet garlic flavour (thanks to not roasting or frying the garlic) and complexity thanks to the herbs and the clove.

The original recipe (in Dutch) is available in his diary Door de Weken Heen, available for 5 euros, second hand only.

What You Need
  • 500 ml Vegetable Stock
  • 8 cloves of Garlic
  • 1 starchy Potato
  • Olive Oil
  • Bouquet Garni (Thyme, Sage, Rosemary, Parsley, Bay Leaf)
  • 1 Clove
  • 2 crushed Black Peppers
  • Parmesan Cheese
  • Chives
  • (optional) Black Pepper
  • (optional) Salt
What You Do
  1. Bring the stock to a boil
  2. Add garlic and potato
  3. Reduce the heat
  4. Add a small tablespoon of olive oil
  5. Add bouquet garni, clove and crushed black peppers
  6. After 40 minutes pass the soup through a sieve
  7. Use a spoon to capture all the flavours of the ingredients
  8. Reheat the soup
  9. Taste and adjust (salt, pepper)
  10. Garnish with Parmesan cheese and chives
Garlic Soup ©cadwu made with garlic, potatoes, clove, bouquet garni, vegetable stock and decorated with parmesan cheese and chives
Garlic Soup ©cadwu

Mapo Tofu with Mushrooms

4 June 2026

The aromas and flavours of Mapo Tofu are powerful, also thanks to the use of Sichuan pepper. It gives the dish a floral, citrusy touch. The combination of silky, soft tofu with ground pork, Chili Bean sauce and scallions is very rich. It’s a delicious, heart-warming dish.
In this version we replace the meat with mushrooms (Wood Ear turned out to be the best choice, but Shiitake will also be fine). We think it’s a lighter, equally tasty but different, version of Mapo Tofu.

Sichuan pepper is not related to black pepper or chili. It’s actually not spicy. It causes a pleasant numbing sensation on your tongue and lips, for a few minutes only, which is surprisingly nice when eating spicy food. We recommend lightly toasting the peppers before grinding or crushing them.

Serving Mapo Tofu with rice is a great idea. Or enjoy it with some Bok Choy (Pak Choi) simmered in a combination of oyster and soy sauce.

Drink Pairing

Jasmine tea is an obvious choice. It has a nice aroma and floral taste. The combination with the spices and the Sichuan pepper works really well.

What You Need
  • 100 grams of fresh Wood Ear (or 25 grams dried Wood Ear)
  • 300 grams of Silken Tofu
  • 100 ml Vegetarian Stock
  • 2 tablespoons light Soy Sauce
  • 1 tablespoon Mirin
  • 3 teaspoons Sesame Oil
  • 2 Garlic Cloves
  • 1 small Onion
  • 1 Scallions
  • 3 teaspoons of chopped Fresh Ginger
  • ½ -1 tablespoon Chili Bean Sauce (Douban, Toban-Djan)
  • 1-2 teaspoons Black Bean Sauce (Douchi)
  • 1 teaspoon of Red Sichuan Pepper
  • Oil
  • Cornstarch
  • Rice
  • Pickled Spicy Cucumber
What You Do
  1. Toast the Sichuan peppers lightly in a non-stick pan
  2. Remove the peppers from the pan and let cool
  3. Pre-heat your oven to 65 °C or 150 °F
  4. Cook the rice according to the instruction on the package
  5. Chop the onion, the garlic and the fresh ginger
  6. Slice the scallions and separate the white from the green
  7. Clean and slice the mushrooms
  8. Slice the tofu and make cubes (2 cm, 1 inch)
  9. Warm the stock
  10. Add oil to the pan and fry the mushrooms
  11. After a few minutes, add soy sauce, mirin and sesame oil
  12. Combine and leave to simmer for a few minutes
  13. Remove from the pan and keep warm in the oven
  14. Grind the Sichuan peppers coarsely
  15. Add oil to the pan
  16. Fry the white part of the scallions, the onion, the garlic and the ginger
  17. Add the chili bean sauce and fry. Enjoy the aromas!
  18. Add half of the grounded Sichuan pepper
  19. Add the stock, the tofu, the mushrooms and the black bean sauce
  20. Use a spatula to mix
  21. Allow to simmer for 15 minutes or so until the sauce is nicely reduced and the flavours mixed
  22. In the meantime, finely crush the remaining Sichuan pepper
  23. Use cornstarch to create the right consistency
  24. Just before serving sprinkle with Sichuan pepper and the green of the scallions.
  25. Add spicy pickled cucumber to the rice
  26. Assemble and serve
Mapo Tofu with Mushrooms ©cadwu made with wood ear and Sichuan pepper
Mapo Tofu with Mushrooms ©cadwu

Lion’s Mane

28 May 2026

If you search for Lion’s Mane mushrooms, you will find lots of references to supplements with wonderful health benefits, ranging from supporting longevity to improved cognitive functions. It’s also supposed to have antibiotic, anti-fatigue and anti-ageing properties. Sounds great, but how do the fresh mushrooms taste?

Lion’s Mane (also known as Yamabushitake and Hou Tou Gu) is a mushroom native to North America, Asia and Europe. Their flavour and texture sets them apart from many other mushrooms. A bit sweet, mild, some umami, subtle, a hint of seafood (crab, lobster). The texture meaty and elastic with a unique structure thanks to the spines.

Alan Bergo (the Forager Chef) uses them to make crab cakes. He writes: This is one of my all-time favorites. I guarantee this is so good, some people may not be able to tell it’s a crabcake made from mushrooms instead of crab.

We thought it would be nice to make a dish with various flavours, allowing us to taste the mushroom on its own, but also with the Tomato Confit and Polenta. Combining it with tomato enhanced the flavour of the mushroom and made it more complex (sweet, sour, umami, aromatic). The combination with Polenta was nice, perhaps because of the various textures.

Wine Pairing

Grüner Veltliner is a wine typical for Austria, with flavours such as lime, grapefruit and white pepper. We enjoyed a glass of Grüner Veltliner, made by Eisacktal Valle Isarco, from the Alto Adige region in Italy. It is fruity, fresh and slightly spicy with clear acidity. Very nice with the flavours in the dish. In general we suggest a fresh, dry white wine with hints of green apple and/or citrus. 

What You Need
  • Mushrooms
    • 100 grams of Lion’s Mane
    • Olive Oil
  • Polenta
    • Polenta
    • Vegetable Stock (optional)
    • Parmesan Cheese
    • Thyme
  • Tomatoes
    • Tomatoes
    • Thyme
    • Rosemary
    • Garlic
    • Olive Oil
What You Do
  1. Day before
    1. Cook (in vegetable stock) the polenta according to the package until ready
    2. Add some Parmesan cheese and thyme
    3. Pour the polenta on a plate and smooth it into an even layer (1,5 centimetres) with a spatula
    4. Cool to room temperature
    5. Cover with foil
    6. Transfer to the refrigerator for use the next day.
  2. A few hours before
    1. Wash and dry the tomatoes and add these to a baking dish
    2. Chop the garlic
    3. Add herbs, garlic and a generous amount of olive oil to the dish
    4. Put in the oven for something like 2 hours on 90 °C or 200 °F
    5. Baste the tomatoes once or twice
    6. Don’t forget to use the cooking liquid as well, it’s another pack of flavours!
  3. Preheat your oven to 65 °C or 150 °F
  4. Turn out the polenta onto a cutting board
  5. Cut it into a shape you like (strips, triangles, circles)
  6. Fry in relatively hot olive oil in a non-stick pan until golden, probably 2*5 minutes. 
  7. In parallel clean the mushroom and slice (not too thin)
  8. Fry in olive oil until golden brown, probably 2*2 minutes
  9. Transfer to the oven
  10. Leave for 5 minutes in the oven
  11. Add just a hint of black pepper to the mushrooms before serving.
  12. Assemble and serve on a warm plate.
PS

Best to buy young mushrooms, the size of a tennis ball.

Fried Lion's Mane ©cadwu served with fried polenta and confit of tomato
Slice of Lion's Mane Mushroom ©cadwu
Lion's Mane Mushroom ©cadwu

Royal Carrot Cake

27 April 2026

Today, April 27th, we celebrate the birthday ol King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands. Hip hip hurray!
The Dutch royal family is also known as ‘de Oranjes’, which is reflected in the use of the colour orange when referring to Dutch royalty. There is no link between the royal family and the colour. The ‘orange’ in their name refers to the French city of Orange, a Principality one of his ancestors inherited in 1544.
Over the years we prepared Orange Sabayon, Queen’s Soup, Orange and Almond Cake, Bouchée à la Reine, Orange Flan, Canard à l’Orange, Baba au Mandarine Napoléon and Orange Parfait on this day.

This year we prepare a Carrot Cake. Given its English origin we thought it would be best to use an English recipe as a starting point. What better cookbook to use than Harrods Book of Traditional English Cookery by Hilaire Walden! It includes recipes for dishes such Jugged Kippers, Rabbit in the Dairy and Dorset Apple Cake. Buy this wonderful book via the usual channels for a few euros or dollars.

Bake the cake 2 days before serving. Add the topping, transfer to the refrigerator and serve cold.

The recipe is for a 19 cm (7,5 inch) baking tin and the cake will serve 8 people.

What You Need
  • Cake
    • 125 grams of Butter
    • 150 grams of light Brown Sugar
    • 3 Organic Eggs
    • 3 teaspoons of Orange Rind
    • 15 ml of Lemon Juice
    • 175 grams of Flour
    • 8 grams of Baking Powder
    • 35 grams of ground White Almonds
    • 75 grams of chopped Walnuts
    • 50 grams of White Raisins
    • 250 grams of grated Carrot
  • Topping
    • 200 grams of Soft Cheese
    • 1 teaspoon of Honey
    • 1 tablespoon of Lemon Juice
    • 25 grams of chopped Walnuts
    • 45 grams of white Marzipan for the carrots
    • 10 grams of white Marzipan for the green part
    • Food colouring: Red, Yellow and Green
What You Do (Cake)
  1. Preheat your oven to 180 °C or 350 °F, traditional
  2. Coat a round cake tin with butter
  3. Coarsely grind the almonds
  4. Coarsely grind the walnuts
  5. Sift flour and baking powder and combine
  6. Soak the raisins for 10 minutes; discard the water
  7. Grate the carrot
  8. Grate the orange rind
  9. Melt the butter until soft 
  10. Combine butter and sugar until relatively fluffy
  11. Combine flour, baking powder, chopped walnuts and almonds
  12. Separate the eggs
  13. Whisk the egg whites until stiff
  14. Add the egg yolks to the butter and sugar mixture, combine
  15. Add orange rind, raisins and lemon juice to the mixture, combine using a spoon
  16. Add the combination of flour, baking powder and nuts to the mixture
  17. Add carrots to the mixture and combine
  18. Fold in the egg white
  19. Transfer to the oven for 50 minutes
  20. Leave to cool on a wire rack
  21. Keeps well on room temperature for at least 2 days
What You Do (Topping)
  1. Make 3 small orange balls
  2. Press these into the shape of a carrot
  3. Use a knife to make a few superficial slices
  4. Roll out the green marzipan, cut out 3 circles and create the green part
  5. Beat cheese, honey and lemon juice
  6. Taste and adjust; we added extra lemon juice
  7. Spread evenly over the cake
  8. Sprinkle with walnuts
  9. Decorate with three carrots
  10. Once you’ve added the topping, store in the refrigerator
Carrot Cake ©cadwu made with almonds, walnuts, white raisins, organic eggs and grated carrot, topped with soft cheese with honey and lemon juice
Three Carrots ©cadwu made with white marzipan and food colouring

Tian

9 April 2026

A delicious combination of tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant and onion. Add flavoured olive oil (garlic and Herbes de Provence), assemble and transfer to the oven. That’s all! The result is a Tian, a vibrant and very tasty dish. Thanks to the preperation in the oven, without additional liquid or sauce, the taste and aromas of the vegetables are pleasant and intense.

A few weeks ago, we prepared Ratatouille Niçoise. We read about variations such as Confit Bayaldi and saw beautiful presentations by Remy (Ratatouille) and other chefs. We also came across a recipe for Tian. Then it all made sense: the nouvelle cuisine version of ratatouille combines the ingredients and preparation of a classic ratatouille with the presentation of Tian.

Tian is the name of a ceramic casserole dish used in the Provence and other parts of France. The dish prepared in it is also called Tian. We found lots of versions, including a Tian d’Anchois, in Hélène Barale’s book La Cuisine Niçoise. A combination of a rich tomato sauce, fresh anchovies and bread.

When shopping for our Tian we wondered if we should add onion. Our greengrocer on the Cours Saleya in Nice was clear: white onions are mandatory.

What You Need
  • 1 Courgette or Zucchini
  • 1 Eggplant or Aubergine
  • Tomatoes
  • White Onion
  • 2 teaspoons (or more) Herbes de Provence
  • 2 cloves of Garlic
  • Black Pepper
  • Olive oil
What You Do
  1. Wash the zucchini, the tomatoes and the eggplant
  2. Heat your oven to 200 °C or 390 °F
  3. Slice the zucchini, the tomatoes and the eggplant into thin, evenly sized pieces.
  4. Cut the eggplant and/or zucchini slices in half to make layering easier.
  5. Slice the onion, but thinner
  6. Crush the garlic
  7. Combine garlic, olive oil and herbes de Provence 
  8. Coat the dish with half of the oil
  9. Assemble the dish
  10. Drizzle with the remaining oil-mixture
  11. Add some black pepper
  12. Sprinkle with some extra herbes de Provence
  13. Cover the dish with aluminium foil
  14. Bake for 20 minutes
  15. Remove the cover and continue baking for another 20–25 minutes
  16. Allow to cool for 10 minutes
  17. Serve in the dish
Tian ©cadwu with eggplant, zuchhini, white onion and tomatoes. Also herbes de provence, garlic, olive oil and black pepper
Tian - ready for the oven ©cadwu with eggplant, zuchhini, white onion and tomatoes. Also herbes de provence, garlic, olive oil and black pepper

Neck of Lamb, Asian style

26 March 2026

We can hear you thinking, ‘Shouldn’t that be rack of lamb?’.

Isn’t it interesting how much we are focused on specific parts of an animal? We love our steak, but what to do with an oxtail? We love pork loin, but how about the pig’s nose? And we enjoy grilled rack of lamb, but how about the neck?
Supermarkets know everything about our focus and preferences. So if you would like to cook pig’s feet (or trotters), kidneys, liver, sweetbread or lamb’s neck: where to go? Try finding a ‘real’ butcher, one that buys the whole animal, not just the popular parts.

Lamb’s neck is very underrated. Some feel it’s okay for your dog only, but that’s silly. When cooked slowly it becomes tasty, nicely structured, juicy and tender.
It combines very well with strong flavours such as ginger, cilantro seeds, star anise, soy sauce and the leaves of the Makrut or Thai lime (also known as Djeroek poeroet or Djeruk purut). You will get a flavourful, complex sauce in combination with lovely, aromatic meat.

Wine Pairing

If you decide to pair with white wine: we enjoyed our Neck of Lamb with a glass of Alsace Gewurztraminer, Cave de Beblenheim. The wine has a beautiful gold colour, and an expressive aromas of roses. The palate presents a nice structure with a fruity and spicy association which of course goes very well with the oriental twist to the stew. In general we suggest an aromatic white wine with just a touch of sweetness.

If you decide to pair with red wine: a few weeks later we enjoyed the dish with a glass of Cinsault, produced by Domaine Coudoulet. This is a relatively light wine, to be served chilled (12 °C or 54 °F). Cinsault is a grape native to the south of France. It was somewhat forgotten but is now gaining popularity. It has a floral nose, with aromas of raspberry and fresh fruit on the palate and discreet tannins.

What You Need
  • 300 grams Neck of Lamb
  • Olive Oil
  • Shallot
  • Fresh Ginger (4 cm, depending on your taste)
  • 1/2 red Chili
  • 1 Garlic Clove
  • Noilly Prat
  • Cilantro Seeds
  • Star Anise
  • Low Salt Soy Sauce
  • 4 leaves of Djeroek Poeroet
What You Do
  1. Cut the meat in not too small cubes – they will shrink during the cooking process
  2. Fry the meat in oil, giving it a nice colour. If so required, do so in multiple batches
  3. In the mean time cut the shallot, peel the ginger and slice, remove the seeds from the chili and cut the garlic clove (but not too fine)
  4. Remove the meat from the pan and glaze the shallot, chili, ginger and garlic
  5. Add a splash of Noilly Prat, the crushed cilantro seeds, the star anise, some low-salt soy sauce and the djeroek poeroet
  6. Stir
  7. Transfer the meat back to the pan and add water, making sure the meat is just covered
  8. Leave to simmer for 6 hours in total
  9. Check the pan every hour, stir and add water is so required
  10. Also check if the djeroek poeroet and/or chilli are not overpowering
  11. After 5 hours check the taste, perhaps add soy sauce, remove the djeroek poeroet or the star anise
  12. After 6 hours cool the stew and transfer to the refrigerator. You could also decide to transfer it to the freezer for use at a later date
  13. The following day remove as much of the fat as possible
  14. Warm the stew, check taste and tenderness
  15. You may want to reduce the liquid in a separate pan
  16. Warm through and through
  17. (Optional) thicken the sauce with potato starch, this way your sauce will remain transparant
  18. Serve with steamed Pak Choi with oyster sauce

PS Looking for a nice starter? Why not serve with Hot and Sour Soup?

Neck of Lamb Asian Style ©cadwu with djeroek poeroet, ginger, soy sauce and cilantro seeds
Neck of Lamb Asian Style ©cadwu

Tomato, Olive and Caper Sauce

19 March 2026

A powerful side dish with sweetness, acidity and umami. It’s full of flavours and aromas plus it’s easy to make. If you omit the pancetta, it will also combine very well with grilled fish.

Green olives are olives that are harvested when not yet ripe. Ideal for olive oil. After curing the green ones are bitter and firm. Black olives are olives harvested when ripe. They are sweeter and softer compared to the green ones. They also bring umami to the combination. By using both green and black olives you will have all these aspects in one dish.

Wine Pairing

We enjoyed our Beef with Tomato, Olive and Caper Sauce with an organic red wine from Italy, made by Terra Viva. The wine is made with Sangiovese grapes from the Marche area. It has a Ruby red colour, aromas of red fruit, mild tannins and subtle acidity.
In general, you’re looking for a bold, dry red wine with a long finish.

What You Need
  • 1 small Shallot
  • 1 Garlic Clove
  • 10 Green
  • 10 Black Olives
  • 1 Tomato
  • 4 slices of Pancetta (optional)
  • 2 teaspoons of Capers in brine
  • Thyme
  • One tablespoon of Red Wine Vinegar
  • Black Pepper
What You Do
  1. Chop the shallot and the garlic
  2. Quarter or halve the olives
  3. Drain capers using kitchen paper
  4. Chop the tomato in 16
  5. Cut the slices of pancetta in 10 (depending on the size)
  6. Heat a heavy iron skillet and add olive oil
  7. Fry the pancetta
  8. Reduce heat
  9. Add shallot and glaze
  10. Add garlic clove and leave for one minute
  11. Add olives, capers, thyme and red wine vinegar
  12. Wait for a few minutes before adding the tomatoes
  13. Leave on very low heat, the tomato should be warm and not cooked
  14. Taste and adjust, perhaps add some black pepper or red wine vinegar
  15. Serve the sauce with excellent (medium-) rare beef
PS

Not sure if we should call it a sauce, or a (warm) salsa, it’s more like a very tasty side dish!

Tomato, Olive and Caper Sauce ©cadwu is a powerful side dish/sauce with sweetness, umami and some acidity
Tomato, Olive and Caper Sauce ©cadwu

Orecchiette with Zucchini and Parsley

12 March 2026

How about a delicious, vegetarian starter, one that is easy to make and requires only a handful of ingredients? It combines orecchiette, zucchini (courgette), parsley, olive oil, Parmesan cheese and black pepper.
Parsley is often used, as decoration, to add a touch of green to a dish. Which is such a pity, because parsley is not just a bit of green: it’s a delicate herb. In this dish it’s crucial: you will taste its slight bitterness and its peppery notes. At the same time, it enhances the flavour of the zucchini and it brings everything together. 
Pasta-wise we think orecchiette is perfect for this dish. The ‘ears’ allow you to taste everything in the dish, with every bite.

Wine Pairing

We suggest a white wine with the orecchiette with zucchini and parsley, for instance from the Lazio region in Italy. In general a light, refreshing wine with hints of green apple and citrus.
We enjoyed a glass of Prima Luna Frascati. This is a white wine made by Mauro Merz with malvasia bianca di candia and trebbiano grapes. Its freshness matched very well with the various flavours of the dish and, obviously, with the parsley!

What You Need
  • Zucchini
  • Flat Leave Parsley
  • Orecchiette
  • Olive oil
  • Parmesan cheese
  • Black Pepper
What You Do
  1. Wash the zucchini. Don’t peel. Chop (think of the size of the orecchiette)
  2. Chop the parsley
  3. Grate Parmesan cheese
  4. Heat a skillet, add olive oil and gently warm the zucchini; no colouring needed
  5. In parallel cook the orecchiette accoding to the instruction
  6. A few minutes before the orecchiette is ready, add half of the parsley to the zucchini, combine
  7. When the orecchiette is al dente, drain but keep some of the cooking liquid
  8. Add the orecchiette to the pan with zucchini and parsley
  9. Add some black pepper and combine
  10. Check if you’re happy with the result, feel free to add cooking liquid, olive oil and/or black pepper
  11. Serve on hot plates, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese
Orecchiette with Zucchini and Parsley ©cadwu is a great vegetarian starter that pays tribute to all ingredients, including the parsley.
Orecchiette with Zucchini and Parsley ©cadwu

Scallops and Morels

26 February 2026

Combining seafood with mushrooms can be magic. We prepared Cod with Horn of Plenty and Beech Mushrooms with Haddock. Both are delicious combinations.
We went shopping on the market, looking for fresh or dried morels. After having bought them, we saw great looking scallops. Why not combine these two complimentary products?
At home we searched for Coquilles Saint Jacques aux Morilles, assuming we would find lots of suggestions in French. Which we did. It turns out to be a ‘recipe from (grand-) mother’, although we don’t know why because it’s such a refined dish. The scallops are delicate; the sauce rich and the morels have a unique taste. Adding finely chopped morels to the sauce helps bringing the two main ingredients together. 

Wine Pairing

We decided to enjoy a glass of lightly oaked chardonnay with our Scallops with Morels, produced by Doudet-Naudin. The wine is fresh with some acidity. Its aromas are floral with some nuttiness. The freshness is nice with the sauce, and the nuttiness is great with the aroma of the fried morels. In general, we suggest a nicely balanced, pleasant white wine with some oak, fruitiness and freshness.

What You Need
  • 10 grams of dried Morels (or 50 grams of fresh Morels)
  • 6 Scallops
  • 1 small Shallot
  • Parsley
  • Cream
  • Stock (vegetable or chicken)
  • Mustard
  • Black Pepper
  • Butter
  • Olive oil
What You Do
  1. If using dried morels, then soak the morels in warm water, wait for 30 minutes, remove morels from water, check for dirt and pass the morel-water through a fine sieve if necessary
  2. If using fresh morels: check for dirt
  3. Clean the scallops
  4. Warm 2 skillets
  5. Finely chop shallot
  6. Remove the white stem of the morels
  7. Halve 2/3 of the morels lengthwise
  8. Finely chop 1/3 of the morels
  9. Chop the parsley
  10. Gently fry the sliced morels in butter in one skillet, for a few minutes or until a touch golden
  11. Wrap the fried morels in aluminium foil and transfer morels to the oven on 50 °C or 120 °F
  12. Glaze shallot in the same skillet
  13. After a few minutes add chopped morels
  14. After 5 minutes add some chicken stock, some morel-water, cream and black pepper
  15. Add ½ teaspoon of mustard. The mustard will add flavour and help thicken the sauce
  16. Reduce and taste
  17. Have morel-water and/or stock on stand-by in case you need to be thinning the sauce
  18. Add some chopped parsley
  19. Taste the sauce and adjust
  20. Quickly fry the scallops in olive oil until opaque
  21. Time to assemble: the sauce, the scallops and the halved morels on top. Sprinkle with parsley  
Scallops and Morels ©cadwu with a rich creamy morel sauce with chopped shallots, stock, mustard and chopped parsley
Scallops and Morels ©cadwu

Caramelised Belgian Endive with Lemon

19 February 2026

Belgian Endive (or Chicory or Witloof) used to be a fairly bitter vegetable. There were two ways of solving this: cook it for a long time in salted water and/or remove the solid part from the stem. Today’s Belgian Endive is not that bitter, so you can happily enjoy all of it and forget about cooking it.

A traditional way of preparing Belgian Endive is to blanch it in boiling water, drain, then wrap the endive in ham, cover it with a béchamel sauce with cheese (sauce mornay) and chapelure. Transfer the dish to the oven until golden. It’s a nice way of preparing Belgian Endive when you want to take a trip down memory lane.
Another option is to slice it and make a salad, preferably the one created by Antonio Carluccio. His salad with truffle and truffle oil is brilliant.
A much better idea is to caramelise Belgian Endive in a hot skillet. Adding lemon juice will enhance the bitterness of the Belgian Endive and add acidity. And if you bought the right kind of lemon, you will also have a floral touch because of the bergamot.

Enjoy the caramelised Belgian Endive with lamb or pork chops.

Wine Pairing

A simple full-bodied red wine will work very well with the Belgian Endive. Make sure it’s not too subtle!

What You Need
  • Belgian Endive
  • Olive Oil
  • (optional) Butter
  • Lemon
What You Do
  1. Clean the Belgian Endive by removing the outer leaves and cut in half (top down)
  2. No need to remove the centre core
  3. Heat a skillet
  4. Add olive oil
  5. Place the Belgian Endive in the pan, flat side down
  6. Keep on medium heat for some 10 minutes until caramelised, so really dark brown
  7. Turn the Belgian Endive and continue for another 5 to 10 minutes
  8. Optional: reduce heat and add some butter
  9. When you’re happy with the result, add fresh lemon juice to taste
  10. Leave in the pan for a few seconds
  11. Stir and check the taste
  12. Serve on a hot plate
PS

If you feel inspired by this recipe, then search for Witloof from Belgium by Liesbeth Hobert and Felix Alen. Over 150 pages with suggestions how to prepare Witloof. Pity it’s in Dutch only, despite its title.

Belgian Endive ©cadwu caramalised with olive oil and lemon juice
Belgian Endive ©cadwu