Food

In foods, chicory leaves are often eaten like celery, and the roots and leaf buds are boiled and eaten.  Chicory is also used as a cooking spice and to flavor foods and beverages.  Some coffee mixes include ground chicory to enhance the richness of the coffee.

Radicchio usually has variegated red or red and green leaves. Some only refer to the white-veined red-leaved type as radicchio, also known as red endive and red chicory. It has a bitter and spicy taste, which mellows when it is grilled or roasted.  It can also be used to add color and zest to salads.  It is largely used in Italy in different varieties,

Belgian endive is known in Dutch as witloof or witlof ("white leaf"), and also as witloof in the United States, via in Italy, endivias in Spain, chicory in the UK, as witlof in Australia, endive in France, and chicon in parts of northern France, in Wallonia and (in French) in Luxembourg. It has a small head of cream-colored, bitter leaves.  The smooth, creamy white leaves may be served stuffed, baked, boiled, cut and cooked in a milk sauce, or simply cut raw.  The tender leaves are slightly bitter; the whiter the leaf, the less bitter the taste.

Although leaf chicory is often called "endive", true endive (Cichorium endivia) is a different species in the genus, distinct from Belgian endive.