photograph by Rick Gush
This type of chicory root , Tardivo raddichio , can be “ wedge ” for a slightly unlike flavor .
Today ’s subject area is the red-faced curly endive experience as radicchio . It is also sometimes known as Italian chicory plant . Belgium , France , Holland and Germany are major player in the chicory - forcing world ( forcing is remove mature roots to a quick , dark position to force rapid and other growth ) , but Italy has contributed these red ones from the northerly part of the country .
Italians use the word radicchio ( rah - Deek - ee - oh ) to describe all the different colors of chicory . In the United States , the word radicchio name to the red - leaf varieties . There are about a XII dissimilar flushed succory spring up here in Italy , and they all show up during wintertime , making them part of traditional holiday meal .
The word picture above is of the Tardivo type of radicchio di Treviso . There ’s also one call Precocem , which is the same color , but instead of forming misrepresented leaves , it forms a tall head mold more like a Chinesecabbagehead .
Forcing does n’t require any real specialised equipment , and the basic approximation is that a plant is dug up , hold in a DoS of debar animation in cool computer storage , and then induce to bring about a flush of new leaf growth in a dark environment . To grow predictable salad greens during the winter , place gardeners can produce a little forcing frame-up for radicchio . To do this , grow the plants in outflow and summer , and then dig them in the fall , hale them in wintertime .
Some growers dig the roots , swerve back the top very short ; replant the roots , massed together in pots ; and then cover the pots with other matching pot overhead , with the drainage maw taped shut . Moving the new repotted source into a slightly warmer surroundings will then stimulate the plants to produce new shoot . Other growers , like most of those who grow the Treviso tardivo in the photo , pack the harvested roots together in frames such as metal Milk River crates , and then submerge those crateful in darkened rooms . plant life can be impel without digging them by piling up material to comprehend the plants that have or have not had their leaf crown edit out back . In this fashion , the proficiency is more or less the same as with blanching .
Growers often do not hale their whole harvest all at once , but rather , keep the majority of the harvested roots store in damp sand or compost in a inhuman place , and then step by step ram a few plant at a time so as to produce a unwavering stream of fresh radicchio throughout the whole winter .
There are come available for non - forcing radicchio types , and the same effect is usable to growers who live in strong climates , where the works are usually not dug , and often form heads without any forcing technique ask .
In our home , we feed radicchio in salads and as a holiday - plate garnish . I ’ve also eat radicchio in eatery ; the roast parting are pretty tasty .
Experimenting with forcing can be fun , mostly because it ’s not really very difficult at all . travail some roots , clean house them up and repackage them in some container , and then keep them slightly lovesome and dark for a few weeks . This technique also form on other plants with similar roots , such as blowball . Forced dandelion greens are groovy in salads and baked veg dish .
Read more of Rick ’s Favorite Crops »
