If you come in Treviso from November to February, you will not be able to avoid a taste of the “Radicchio Rosso Tardivo di Treviso”
It will be difficult for you not to even see it, displayed in all the market stalls, in all the windows of the vegetable shops, in all the restaurant menus, up to the sandwiches of the bars.
It is only Radicchio, one can say, a kind of red chicory, so why is it so special? Why is Radicchio Tardivo considered “The King of Radicchio”?
Once you’ve tasted it, you’ll never ask this question again. Your question will now be different: How do you make this radicchio so special?
The Name
Let’s start from the name. Tardivo (in Italian) refers to a plant that is growing late, and in fact you can find this Radicchio in the market in the heart of winter. This is one of the reasons this plant develops large, crunchy white stems.
The Radicchio Tardivo of Treviso is a PGI product (Protected Geographical Indication) certified by the European Commission. In the EU website they also give an interesting explanation about the cultivation/preparation process, and they also add a bit of History of the product.
Water, the secret ingredient
If you follow my posts, you may remember that I wrote a lot of posts about the Sile River. However, today I will share a post written by @AntonellaGr ,Sile River, stories of water. In there she describes the river from the springs to the sea. And it is precisely the springs that we want to talk about, because it is precisely that spring water, the water of a river that rises in the plains, that makes Radicchio Tardivo such a special food.
Let’s go and see these springs, where the water that flows from the ground creates the “longest river in Europe born from a spring in the plain”
In Treviso they call them “Fontanassi”, fountains that rise from the ground, especially in this park, which is known as the Gran Bosco dei Fontanassi.
Video: https://youtu.be/JbVFEUQFFf4
Harvested in the fields in the middle of winter, cleaned and immersed in the dark in tubs of running spring water for two weeks, the radicchio continues to grow, the stems become large, white and crunchy, while the rest of the leaf takes on a bright red color.
Great knowledge of a craftsmanship that requires a lot of skill, combined with innovative cultivation techniques, transform the Radicchio Tardivo into a work of art that you will then find exhibited in the shop counters.
A piece of Belgium in Treviso
According to tradition, the late radicchio became what it is thanks to a Belgian botanist, Francesco Van de Borre, who applied cultivation techniques to the radicchio that he already used in his country of origin.
As proof of this, the heirs of the Van de Borre family still manage two renowned gardening businessesin Treviso today. I am sure my friend @JanVanHaver will be happy reading this information
Let’s not forget that we are talking about food
Raw or cooked, radicchio arrives on the plate in many different ways, from appetizers to desserts, passing through first courses, main courses and side dishes.
In the cover photo you could see:
- A crunchy salad of radicchio and oranges, dressed with oil, salt and balsamic vinegar of Modena
- A risotto with radicchio and mussels
- A baked pork loin stuffed with radicchio and pecorino
Are you getting hungry? Well, we’re just getting started.
Below you can see:
- A platter of appetizers where a crouton of Radicchio and Prawns stands out, placed on a bed of melted cheese
- A trout carpaccio with radicchio and rocket
- A classic Veneto dish: Polenta and Soppressa with baked Radicchio
- Roast Pork with Radicchio
- An unmissable Radicchio Pizza. This one in particular I ate with @TorM
- Panettone with Radicchio, a classic Italian Christmas dessert enriched by the flavor of Treviso red radicchio
To Close
Do I need to explain why the Radicchio Tardivo is so special and so expensive? I think not.
However, if you want to taste it here in Treviso, you will find it at prices even six times lower than the rest of Italy. So, if you also want to visit Venice during the winter, why not plan a visit to Treviso too?
After all, Treviso is the town where the local guides meet
.
.