On 2013-05-09, ImStillMags > wrote:

> When the high end chefs started using them they became "trendy".

All because of Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs.

The two expensive veggies that irk me are fennel and Belgian endive.
My late brother's girlfriend was a native Belgian and she was outraged
at the price of B-endive in the US, which typically sells for close to
$5 lb. She said it was about $.45 lb in Belgium. She showed me a
classic Belgian dish of endive wrapped in ham strips and
smothered/cooked in a comté cheese béchemel sauce. Likewise with
fennel. You'd think the damn root was saffron from the price.
grrrrrr.....

Oh, another is rapini, or broccoli rabé, if you can even find it.
You'd think it was white asparagus instead of the weed it actually
is.

nb