The Endive Chronicles

Even as a kid I was wild about artichokes. I love everything from their unusual shape and color to scraping every morsel off of each petal. I even love the mountain of spent petals that forms on my plate; the higher it gets, the closer I am to the sweet, buttery heart. I find the flavor so delightful that I was over the moon to discover in recent years there are two veggies that mimic the flavor (if not the texture) of artichokes; cardoons and Jerusalem artichokes.

For those of you who don’t know, the cardoon is a relative of the artichoke, but has the look and texture of very fibrous celery. I had never seen it before moving to the Hamptons and have since learned it is a frequent star in wintertime Italian cookery and was brought to New York by Italian immigrants. This is all quite interesting, but we aren’t here to discuss cardoons; are we? The real reason we are here is to talk about the elusive, at least to me, Jerusalem artichoke. Native to North America, the Jerusalem artichoke oddly enough is not commonly found here. In fact, Jerusalem artichokes aren’t even artichokes. I first read about it in a magazine some time ago, but did not run into it until two years ago while browsing the produce section of Uwajimaya. I lugged them back to New York and made them into a simple tian that we just couldn’t get enough of.

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Eight years ago while browsing through my new cookbook “Street Food” by New Zealander Clare Ferguson; I happened upon a recipe for the Egyptian snack dukkah. At the time I was already cultivating a relatively new obsession with spices and was very interested in this nut and spice filled concoction, eager to give it a try.

Traditionally dukkah blends whole toasted spices, usually cumin, pepper and coriander with nuts and seeds such as sesame and pistachio. Often times, a bit of paprika or thyme is thrown in to shake things up. Dukkah is eaten by dipping warm bread into olive oil which is then dipped in the dukkah mixture. On further research I found that dukkah is really whatever you want it to be by substituting other spices, nuts, seeds and herbs. Sometimes I like to give mine an Indian flare by adding mustard or nigella seeds. Other times I want to highlight Mexican flavors by adding oregano and pepitas. The possibilities are endless. The mix I am sharing with you today is sort of a crazy kitchen cupboard melange that I just kept adding things to.

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The cities of southern France are teeming with fusion specialties influenced by Mediterranean countries ranging from Italy to Morocco. One such specialty from the city of Nice is socca. Rumored to be an Italian import, socca has long been a part of daily life in Nice. In fact, some socca vendors have had the tradition passed down to them through the generations.

Socca has a nutty flavor and is lightly crisp to the bite. These crepe like treats make a great snack eaten plain or with a bit of filling. Socca are packed with protein and make a satisfying and delicious snack. When we make these at home my husband and I stand over the skillet waiting with hungry anticipation for the piping hot socca.

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