Radicchio
Radicchio are a group of Italian chicories famously grown & cultivated in North-Eastern Italy, all loved for their bitterness.
Radicchio is traditionally sautéed and served with olive oil, salt and vinegar. They are often eaten raw in salads, on top of soups, pasta or pizza.Red radicchio contain the highest concentrations of phenolic content among the leafy greens and are a very nutritious striking addition to any meal.
Chicories have been gathered and eaten as food and medicine across the mediterranean from time immemorial, and have been cultivated since the 17th century. Radicchio varieties are namesakes of the province they were traditionally cultivated in.
July 23, 2022
Sometimes you just get so used to things, that its hard to really appreciate whats there.Its such a cliche, but this is exactly whats happened to me.
On Sunday Dylan and I got massages and ate nachos together. On Monday we went to the farm and did some planting, and discussed what was going to go into this weeks box. We have our minds so focused on summer coming, and honestly we’re already enthusiastically chatting about next years asian green plantings that will be harvested during next years autumn and winter.
The gorizia raddichio have been in the ground since January, and we’ve been forcing them in the field for about 6 weeks. I walk past them every day I’m at the farm. Radicchio are famous for looking skanky and inedible in the field and once they are harvested and washed they take your breath away.
These beauties are the smallest and most delicate of our radicchio. Its safe to say they dont ‘pack weight’. They grow with a very large and long growth habit for most of their growing season, then the buds we harvest grow in the final weeks before harvest. We’ve read some growers export these radicchio across the world and charge upward of 60 euro per 100g.
And we were so used to seeing them tied up in the field that we really forgot about them. It wasnt until I started looking for recipes for this email that I remembered how special these tiny radicchio are.
The province of Gorizia is right next to Slovenia. Across the border in the Slovenian region of Goriska these radicchio are called Nova Gorica.
Gorizia’s cuisine combines traditions from Eastern Europe, Slavic, Friuli and Venitian cooking. Traditionally Italian Gorizia is eaten raw, dressed with vinegar with potatoes and beans. Its commonly lightly sauted and dressed with horseradich, vinegar and eaten with meat. It may accompany a famous barley risotto.
The recipes below are both in Italian, and I used google translate to translate the whole page and read them.
17 June 2022
Rosa del Veneto, or roughly translated ‘The Rose of Veneto’ is stunning. We planted these plants back in January, and now we can enjoy. The frost encourages the pink colour, and its been cold enough for these plants to be pink for months.
When cooked these loose heading radicchio are famous for becoming tangy sweet. Enjoy them as you would any radicchio: raw, roasted, grilled, baked or with pasta. Enjoy.
13 April 2022
The ‘rose that you eat’ has been grown and consumed since the late 19th century and is the result of a cross between treviso radicchio and escarole. There is an old story in the Veneto of a noblewoman from Castelfranco attending a wintertime premier at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan who adorned her gown with a head of Castelfranco radicchio. Everyone believed it was an exotic flower imported from far away.
Castelfranco radicchio have a beautiful tulip-like shape, the leaves are thin, yet crisp. Like other variegated radicchio they start out green with red flecks and become buttery yellow with more red flecks as you move towards the heart. The flavor is mild for a chicory, but still with some lovely radicchio bitterness. This ‘tulip of winter’ is one you can definitely eat raw. Perfect with fruit, vinegar, salt and something creamy like nuts or cheese.
8 December 2021
This week we have some loose headed Bel fior radicchio in the box~ they are green with red speckles~ a really pretty variety. Bel fior translates into beautiful flower in Italian.
To celebrate these little bitter radicchio, and any remaining fennel from last week thats still tucked away in the fridge.
One of our members shared this recipe with us ~ thank you eee ~ its beautiful!
6th October 2021
This week things are getting a little bitter in the box ~ and we welcome Chioggia radicchio ~
These Chioggia radicchio are a small and pretty vegetable in the chicory family, named after their namesake town near Venice in Northern Italy.
We planted these Chioggia radicchio in the middle of winter as an experiment. These super late winter plants miraculously managed to form nice round heads ~ they are really small, but they were too pretty not to pop in this week’s box and be enjoyed.
Chioggia radicchio look and taste beautiful & bitter ripped up into salads. They are fantastic, and much less bitter, gently roasted for 10 mins and covered with a sweet balsamic. Salt, vinegar and EVOO make Chioggia radicchio sing ~ We’ll be growing more of these in the coming months so just consider these a little taste of some larger radicchio to come.
28 July 2021
We are really happy to have grown some small and humble radicchio di treviso for you. We hope you enjoy their dark red bitter leaves and the sweeter white mid ribs.
Radici e fasioi is a traditional radicchio and bean dish. It is so tasty, we have been eating this for weeks now. It’s become a staple in our house. Usually the beans are served over the top of chopped radicchio, we unconventionally serve them below because~ the radicchio!
We use this recipe for the beans.
