Azure-Blue Flower Of The Chicory Plant
Saw this in Gros Morne National Park about two weeks ago.
Chicory or Wild Succory is a tall, perennial herb with a deep taproot closely related to the dandelion plant. All parts of this plant are edible in the springtime...the greens are edible in spring and summer....and the root is edible in all seasons.
It is the root, though, which makes this plant most interesting. Its roots can be dug up any time,cleaned and roasted until they turn dark brown and break easily. The roasted roots can be ground and brewed like coffee... but they make a much stronger brew than coffee beans. Prepared this way, it has a rich caramel flavor and leaves a semi-sweet pleasantly smooth after taste....plus no caffeine! :-)
Chicory is even added to certain coffee blends today ...chicory root being best known as a key ingredient in the famous coffee blends from New Orleans. Chicory blended with coffee actually produces a smoother, more enjoyable cup of coffee, as proved by extensive blind taste tests among coffee drinkers. Chicory offsets what many think of as the bitter taste of coffee.
Indeed, chicory is said to have many other benefits ....ranging from protecting the liver from effects caused by excessive coffee drinking to being used in dog food as a natural prebiotic that improves the balance of bacteria in the dog's digestive system
Azure-Blue Flower Of The Chicory Plant
Saw this in Gros Morne National Park about two weeks ago.
Chicory or Wild Succory is a tall, perennial herb with a deep taproot closely related to the dandelion plant. All parts of this plant are edible in the springtime...the greens are edible in spring and summer....and the root is edible in all seasons.
It is the root, though, which makes this plant most interesting. Its roots can be dug up any time,cleaned and roasted until they turn dark brown and break easily. The roasted roots can be ground and brewed like coffee... but they make a much stronger brew than coffee beans. Prepared this way, it has a rich caramel flavor and leaves a semi-sweet pleasantly smooth after taste....plus no caffeine! :-)
Chicory is even added to certain coffee blends today ...chicory root being best known as a key ingredient in the famous coffee blends from New Orleans. Chicory blended with coffee actually produces a smoother, more enjoyable cup of coffee, as proved by extensive blind taste tests among coffee drinkers. Chicory offsets what many think of as the bitter taste of coffee.
Indeed, chicory is said to have many other benefits ....ranging from protecting the liver from effects caused by excessive coffee drinking to being used in dog food as a natural prebiotic that improves the balance of bacteria in the dog's digestive system