EGG PLANT ENDIVE 57 



EGG PLANT 



(Solatium esculentum, S. melongena ovigerum) 



THE EGG PLANT is generally known only as an ornament, but it is a 

 delicious vegetable when sliced and fried in oil, the purple and black 

 fruited kinds being especially serviceable for the table. But the 

 common white, which is best known as an ornamental plant, is fairly 

 good when cooked young, though less rich in flavour than the purple. 

 The cultivation recommended for the ornamental Capsicums will 

 suit the Egg Plants. They are not well adapted for planting out, 

 although in a warm season they will fruit freely under a sunny wall, 

 and will grow in a gravel walk if helped at first with a little good soil 

 round the roots. If required in quantity for the table, the common 

 purple sort might be grown in .a frame from plants raised on a hot- 

 bed. Generally speaking, a few plants in pots are all that are re- 

 quired where the fruit is not valued as an esculent. 



ENDIVE 



( Cichorium Endivia) 



ENDIVE has advanced in public esteem within the past few years, 

 owing perhaps to a growing taste for wholesome salads, and also, 

 no doubt, to the recurrence of severe winters that have destroyed 

 Lettuces in open quarters. Moreover, the flavour of well-blanched 

 Endive suits most palates that have had experience of salads, and of 

 the salutary properties of the plant we have a hint in its close relation 

 to the Chicory. 



The selection of sorts is a question of importance, because the 

 handsome curled varieties that make the best appearance on the 

 table (and might be regarded as ornaments if they were not edible) 

 are the .very finest for salads, being tender, and with a fresh nutty 

 flavour. The broad-leaved sorts are not so well adapted for salads 

 as for stews, and they admirably take the place of Lettuces when 

 the latter are not available for soups and ragouts. However, when 

 an emergency occurs, the curled varieties will be found suitable for 

 cooking, and the broad-leaved for salading, and therefore there need 

 be no waste where one sort predominates. 



