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| © 2003 Dr. Pandalis |
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| Cichorium intybus ssp. silvestre |
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Product name Blauwarte®
Botany
Cichorium intybus ssp. silvestre is a wild vegetable which was already very popular with our forefathers and spread over the whole of Europe in prehistoric times. Endive and coffee-chicory, which today are used in salads, count among its close botanical relatives. Cichorium intybus ssp. silvestre is a plant which lasts several years and can reach the great height of up to 2 m, although on sterile ground it does not grow larger than 15 cm. It is characterised by its deciduous leaves which are shaped like a crosscut saw and often have stiff hairs on the underside, and by its blossoming leaves in the shape of a tongue. The flower heads are very eye-catching with their many blossoms and their shiny light blue colour.
History
The plant with its blue blossom has a long tradition as a vegetable and medicinal plant. Salads were already prepared from its bitter-spicy leaves in ancient times. Boiled in salty water and fried with butter, our ancestors ate the young budding leaves as a vegetable or cooked them together with meat. Furthermore, the herb was prepared as tea and some sources even supply recipes for the production of wine. For "industrious housewives“ a recipe for the preserving of cichorium intybus is described in a book on herbs written in 1625. In German culture the plant was often attributed magical qualities: magic potions from the wild vegetables were supposed to make people invulnerable and even invisible.
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