This delicious spring vegetable looks quite unlike the more common types of chicory. If you cannot buy or grow it, try purslane, (which grows wild and can be bought from Cypriot and other ethnic grocers) or marsh samphire, which grows in salt marshes or on rocks and is gathered in Brittany and Norfolk each summer and sold by an increasing number of greengrocers and fishmongers. Samphire should be steamed until only just tender. Do not overcook.

Rinse your chosen vegetable well after trimming, drain and add to a large pan of boiling salted water, stirring with a fork or long-handled spoon. If friar's beard is used, boil hard for 8 - 10 minutes or until tender.

Drain well and sprinkle with a little oil mixed with lemon juice (or butter).