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Like the closely related endive and escarole (Cichorum endiva), chicory and radicchio are bitter tasting salad greens more popular in Europe than in the States. Chicory and radicchio are generally not as bitter as the endives, however. There are several types of chicory. Leaf or heading chicory looks like a romaine lettuce, with loose, upright heads. It has slightly thicker leaves than romaine and a mildly to strongly bitter flavor, depending on variety and growing conditions. Italian or loose-leaf chicory has long leaf stems (petioles) and deeply notched leaves, like a dandelion's. The stems, 1 ft (0.3 m) or so in length, are sometimes the only parts eaten. Witloof chicory (a.k.a. Belgian endive or chicons) is grown for the tender white buds which are forced by growing in the dark. Root chicory is grown for its roots which are cooked like carrots or parsnips or roasted and used as a substitute for, or a flavoring in, coffee. The radicchios are types of chicory that grow in tight heads, like cabbage. Most radicchios are wine-red with white veins and about the size of an orange or small grapefruit. They often look like little red cabbages. The roadside weed, wild chicory, with its pretty blue flowers, is this same species, gone wild. Here in our Florida Zone 8 vegetable garden we grow chicory and radicchio in the winter. Our favorite Italian chicory is a variety called asparagus chicory in the seed catalogues. The stems are long and tender and hardly bitter at all. We add it to salads all winter long. Red Treviso and Early Treviso radicchios are beautiful little red heads that are absolutely not bitter when grown in the winter. A good leaf chicory is the small Crystal Hat chicory which also is hardly bitter at all. Cornucopia II lists seven varieties of leaf or heading chicory, 20 varieties of Italian or loose-leaf chicory, 15 varieties of radicchio, 13 varieties of witloof chicory, and three varieties of root chicory seeds available from US mail order companies.
Location
Culture
We use radicchio and chicory in salads throughout the winter and spring. When grown in hot weather, these salad greens, like escarole and endive, tend to be too bitter for our tastes. They usually die during our hot, humid summer, anyway. Chicory and radicchio are actually perennials, but they are usually grown as annuals, pulled up completely when harvested. However, if you just cut off the radicchio head or the individual stems of Italian chicory, the plants will regrow and continue to produce. You can even let them bolt to flower, and then cut off the flowering stem and they will begin again to produce the edible leaves. The blue flowers are very pretty and attractive to butterflies.
Features Steve Christman 8/19/04
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