Rauwe Andijviestamppot (Raw Endive Mash)
Rauwe Andijviestamppot
The quick post-war favourite — cool raw endive shredded into hot mash so it half-wilts, keeping crunch and bite, with bacon and a molten butter well.
IIStamppot & the Mash- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Serves
- 4
- Level
- Beginner
Somewhere in the lean, careful years after 1945, the Dutch kitchen made a small discovery that felt almost like cheating: you did not have to cook the endive at all. Shred it raw, fold it into potato hot off the masher, and the heat does just enough — a half-wilt that leaves the leaf green, crisp and alive. Rauwe andijviestamppot, "raw endive mash," turned a second pot and a scoop of fuel into nothing, and in the frugal reconstruction household that mattered.
Cooking without cooking
The whole dish is a trick of residual heat. There is no blanching, no wilting in a pan — just cold, finely shredded endive stirred through mash so hot it steams. What comes out is unlike any boiled green stamppot: brighter, fresher, with a clean bitterness and an actual crunch. The margin is narrow, which is the fun of it. Let the mash cool and the endive stays raw and squeaky; keep it fierce-hot and fold at the last second, and it collapses exactly halfway.
A mash that rewards speed
Because the greens go in cold, the potato has to carry all the heat and most of the richness. Cook it hard, dry it, and mash it generously with warm milk, butter and rendered bacon fat so it is soft and hot enough to do its work. A handful of grated old Gouda, melting into the warmth, is a modern touch that suits the bitter leaf.
The pot never sees the endive — only the plate does, and only for a moment.
Serve it straight from the fold, crisp bacon scattered over, a knob of butter sinking into a well pressed in the top. It waits for no one, which is exactly the point.
“Everything hinges on heat: mash the potatoes as hot as you can and fold the endive in at the last second, or the raw-endive trick is lost.”
Ingredients
Serves 4
The mash
- 1 kgfloury potatoes — peeled, in chunks
- 300 gcurly endive — andijvie, shredded very fine
- 150 mlwarm milk
- 50 gbutter — cold, plus a knob to finish
- 1 pinchgrated nutmeg
To finish
- 150 gsmoked bacon — spekjes, diced
- 50 gaged Gouda — grated, optional
- to tastesalt and pepper
Method
- 1
Boil the potatoes hard
Cover the potatoes with salted water and boil until fully tender. They must be piping hot when mashed, because their heat is the only thing that will part-cook the raw endive folded in at the end.
- 2
Shred the endive fine
Wash the endive thoroughly and slice it into thin ribbons — the finer the shred, the more evenly it half-wilts. Keep it cold and crisp on the board until the very last moment.
- 3
Crisp the bacon
Fry the diced bacon slowly until crisp and its fat has rendered. Reserve both; the fat seasons the mash and the crisp pieces give the soft dish something to bite against.
- 4
Mash extra hot
Drain and dry the potatoes, then mash quickly with warm milk, cold butter, nutmeg and the bacon fat. Work fast so you don't lose heat — a lukewarm mash leaves the endive raw and squeaky rather than silky.
- 5
Fold at the table's edge
Fold the shredded endive through in one brisk motion just before serving. It should collapse only halfway, staying bright green and slightly crisp. Fold in the bacon, press a butter well into the top, and serve at once.
In the kitchen
The tools that make this recipe easier.
- EssentialPotato ricer ↗
The route to lump-free stamppot and mash.
Crowning the mash
Stamppot is a canvas: a well of gravy and something smoked or pickled.
- Rookworst — smoked sausage, sliced into the well
- Jus — a pool of dark gravy in the centre
- Piccalilli or zuur — sharp pickles to cut the richness
- Speklapjes — crisped pork belly for kale stamppot
Questions from the kitchen
How is this different from ordinary andijviestamppot?+
Both use raw endive, but rauwe andijviestamppot leans into it — coarser, cooler, folded at the very last moment so the leaves keep a real crunch and a fresh, faintly bitter bite rather than wilting soft.
Why did it become popular after the war?+
In the frugal reconstruction years it was fast, cheap and needed almost no fuel — no separate pot of greens to boil. A single pot of potatoes and a raw vegetable folded in suited a rebuilding household.
Any good additions?+
A handful of grated aged Gouda melts into the hot mash and marries well with the bitter leaf. Some cooks add a spoon of mustard or a splash of the bacon fat for extra depth.
Paint the rest of the meal
StamppotHolland
Posteleinstamppot (Purslane Mash)
Posteleinstamppot
A rare summer stamppot of succulent purslane wilted into potato — lemony, faintly saline and green, an old kitchen-garden dish from before spinach ruled.
StamppotGroningen
Knolraapstamppot (Swede/Turnip Mash)
Knolraapstamppot
A mash of swede and potato from the clay north — earthy and faintly sweet, a root that carries the hard memory of the 1944 Hunger Winter with quiet dignity.
StamppotLimburg
Zuurkool met Spek (Sauerkraut with Bacon Mash)
Zuurkool met Spek
The Limburg way with sauerkraut — mashed through potato with a whole slab of streaky bacon simmered on top and a thread of dark apple stroop to soften it.