Usage Escarole, and to a lesser extent, endive, should be blanched to reduce their bitterness. The leaves will turn creamy white and will lose their bitterness. You also can blanch endive and escarole by tying up the outer leaves so that the inner leaves and hearts are protected from the light. Be sure the plants are dry before covering them or they will likely rot. Endive is used almost exclusively raw in salads.
Restaurants often use endive as a garnish around salad bowls.
Escarole is also a fine salad green, but it also can be braised in olive oil and garlic, or steamed or boiled like spinach. In the U.K., endive is called curly endive and escarole is called endive or batavia chicory. The ancient Greeks, and probably the Egyptians as well, cultivated escarole for salads. The curly leaved endives weren't developed until after the 16th century.