Untangled
Sir: Well, anyhow, here it's called witlof and not witloof since the masses took over, and previous to that it was called Brussels lof, and it consists of the leaves of the chicory plant grown without light and therefore white (wit); and 't looft does not mean It runs' but 'it praises'— it runs' is 'het loopt'. 'Lover' in Dutch (not pronoun- ced as the English 'lover' but as 'louver') means 'green foliage', no one called `Daube' could possibly live at '3 Charcute- rie Villas' in Dordogne, and the only thing to do is to boil it, wrap it in ham, cover it in cheese sauce, put it in the oven till browned, take it out and eat it and shut up.
I've been eating it for over 35 years, with intervals to give other vegetables a chance, and it almost reconciled me to life on this planet.
James Brockway
Van Trigtstraat 53, The Hague, Netherlands
P.S. And 'endive' is the Dutch andijvie (an-dive-ee) which is grown in the light and therefore green and better avoided.
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