Chicory

I first met chicory as it should be cooked in France (where, incidentally, it is called endive), when I attended a small dinner party given by the great French coiffeur, Antoine, at a little quai-side restaurant in Villefranche. For a first course, on Antoine’s recommendation, we all had moules à la marinière - gallons of tiny Mediterranean mussels steamed open in local white wine with a few finely chopped shallots, a hint of garlic and masses of finely chopped parsley - served with great simplicity in huge aluminium kitchen bowls.