With curly, pale green or yellow, wildly serrated leaves, Frisée is not a lettuce but is in the chicory family along with endive. We ‘blanch’ the heads in the field by putting caps over each head about 5 days before harvest, turning the leaves yellow in the center while making them more tender and elegant. We love it in the classic salad with lardons and poached farm-fresh eggs dressed with a vinaigrette, but Eberhard used to serve it in his restaurant with julienned apple and hazelnuts and a bright citrus dressing, which is ingrained in my memory.
Satur Farms manufactures blanching caps for Frisee and Escarole. They're available for purchase at Johnny's Selected Seeds.