Noël Zia Lee
Chicory
Explore for July 27, 2008 #379 - Thank you!
Chicory is blooming all along our roadsides now. I always thought these were cornflowers until I looked them up in my new wildflower book. (My botany education was negligible.)
From wikipedia:
"Common chicory (Cichorium intybus) is a bushy perennial herb with blue or lavender flowers. It grows as a wild plant on roadsides in its native Europe, and in North America, where it has become naturalized. It is grown for its leaves, or for the roots, which are baked, ground, and used as a coffee substitute and additive. Common chicory is also known as blue sailors, succory, and coffeeweed. It is also called cornflower, although that name is more properly applied to Centaurea cyanus.
Root chicory (Cichorium intybus var. sativum) has been in cultivation in Europe as a coffee substitute for a long time. The roots are baked, ground, and used as a coffee substitute and additive, especially in the Mediterranean region (where the plant is native), although its use as a coffee additive is also very popular in India, parts of Southeast Asia and the American South, particularly in New Orleans.
Around 1970 it was found that the root contains up to 20% inulin, a polysaccharide similar to starch. Since then, new strains have been created, giving root chicory an inulin content comparable to that of sugar beet. Inulin is mainly ... used as a sweetener in the food industry (with a sweetening power 30% higher than that of sucrose) and is sometimes added to yogurts as a prebiotic. Inulin can be converted to fructose and glucose through hydrolysis.
Chicory, with sugar beet and rye was used as an ingredient of the East German Mischkaffee (mixed coffee), introduced during the "coffee crisis" of 1976-9.
Some beer brewers use roasted chicory to add flavor to their stouts."
Chicory
Explore for July 27, 2008 #379 - Thank you!
Chicory is blooming all along our roadsides now. I always thought these were cornflowers until I looked them up in my new wildflower book. (My botany education was negligible.)
From wikipedia:
"Common chicory (Cichorium intybus) is a bushy perennial herb with blue or lavender flowers. It grows as a wild plant on roadsides in its native Europe, and in North America, where it has become naturalized. It is grown for its leaves, or for the roots, which are baked, ground, and used as a coffee substitute and additive. Common chicory is also known as blue sailors, succory, and coffeeweed. It is also called cornflower, although that name is more properly applied to Centaurea cyanus.
Root chicory (Cichorium intybus var. sativum) has been in cultivation in Europe as a coffee substitute for a long time. The roots are baked, ground, and used as a coffee substitute and additive, especially in the Mediterranean region (where the plant is native), although its use as a coffee additive is also very popular in India, parts of Southeast Asia and the American South, particularly in New Orleans.
Around 1970 it was found that the root contains up to 20% inulin, a polysaccharide similar to starch. Since then, new strains have been created, giving root chicory an inulin content comparable to that of sugar beet. Inulin is mainly ... used as a sweetener in the food industry (with a sweetening power 30% higher than that of sucrose) and is sometimes added to yogurts as a prebiotic. Inulin can be converted to fructose and glucose through hydrolysis.
Chicory, with sugar beet and rye was used as an ingredient of the East German Mischkaffee (mixed coffee), introduced during the "coffee crisis" of 1976-9.
Some beer brewers use roasted chicory to add flavor to their stouts."