2020 Radicchio Expedition to Italy
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RADICCHIO EXPEDITION to Italy
Curated by Shawn Linehan, Josh Volk and Lane Selman
Radicchio is a cool season vegetable that originated and is still widely grown in the northeastern regions of Italy, a climate of annual mean temperatures, and latitude very similar to those of the Pacific Northwest. It is a promising winter crop as it overwinters in the field and holds well in storage, providing a locally grown alternative to lettuce shipped from warmer regions during the colder months. Numerous farmers in Oregon and Washington are interested in growing radicchio, but have production questions on variety selection, seeding and transplanting timing, cultivation, harvest, forcing techniques and storage. Little of this detailed information is avail- able in the US and the best way to acquire details by directly visiting the farmers growing these crops in Italy. In 2014, an initial visit by Lane Selman, Josh Volk and Alex Stone to radicchio breeders in Chioggia was an invaluable introduction to many basics practices that were not commonly known in the US and this second trip, the Radicchio Expedition, builds on that information by visiting more growers in the region and documenting their practices.
In January 2020, 22 farmers, chefs, scholars, advocates, journalists and a photographer from Oregon and Washington visited production farms, seed companies and radicchio breeders throughout the Veneto, Trentino-Alto Adige and Friuli-Venezia Giulia regions for five days with the mission to learn more about both production methods and culinary uses for radicchio, and to bring back that information for growers, cooks and eaters. The Expedition was organized and led by Italian farmer Myrtha Zierock of Azienda Agricola Foradori in Mezzolombardo, Italy, and Lane Selman of Culinary Breeding Network. The expedition culminated in a public event and radicchio celebration called Giàz (meaning ‘ice’ in the Trentino dialect) at Foradori. Both activities were a tremendous success and set the groundwork for a long-term cultural exchange.
Curated by Shawn Linehan, Josh Volk and Lane Selman
Radicchio is a cool season vegetable that originated and is still widely grown in the northeastern regions of Italy, a climate of annual mean temperatures, and latitude very similar to those of the Pacific Northwest. It is a promising winter crop as it overwinters in the field and holds well in storage, providing a locally grown alternative to lettuce shipped from warmer regions during the colder months. Numerous farmers in Oregon and Washington are interested in growing radicchio, but have production questions on variety selection, seeding and transplanting timing, cultivation, harvest, forcing techniques and storage. Little of this detailed information is avail- able in the US and the best way to acquire details by directly visiting the farmers growing these crops in Italy. In 2014, an initial visit by Lane Selman, Josh Volk and Alex Stone to radicchio breeders in Chioggia was an invaluable introduction to many basics practices that were not commonly known in the US and this second trip, the Radicchio Expedition, builds on that information by visiting more growers in the region and documenting their practices.
In January 2020, 22 farmers, chefs, scholars, advocates, journalists and a photographer from Oregon and Washington visited production farms, seed companies and radicchio breeders throughout the Veneto, Trentino-Alto Adige and Friuli-Venezia Giulia regions for five days with the mission to learn more about both production methods and culinary uses for radicchio, and to bring back that information for growers, cooks and eaters. The Expedition was organized and led by Italian farmer Myrtha Zierock of Azienda Agricola Foradori in Mezzolombardo, Italy, and Lane Selman of Culinary Breeding Network. The expedition culminated in a public event and radicchio celebration called Giàz (meaning ‘ice’ in the Trentino dialect) at Foradori. Both activities were a tremendous success and set the groundwork for a long-term cultural exchange.
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209 imagesGiàz was an idea dreamed by farmer Myrtha Zierock to conduct a vegetable tasting as if it were a wine tasting. It was the first tasting of unusual, unknown or simply underestimated winter vegetables. The idea was in the height of the Alpine winter, a dish can be more colorful and tastier than in the summer by the sea. Giàz was held at the Agricola Foradori winery & farm and welcomed eleven young innovative farmers from around northern Italy to share their winter vegetables with 180 attendees. The background, according to the Giàz website: As Agricola Foradori we are called to participate in various wine tastings all over the world, where you can taste, tell, share the work done in the field and cellar, captured in the bottle. We compare ourselves between producers tasting and discussing, and we are surprised by the reactions of visitors. Like it? What don't you like? Why do you prefer one wine over another? Who lets himself be conquered by history, who follows his palate? Working in biodynamics where crop diversity is of great importance, we added horticultural production thanks to the return of Myrtha, creator of Giaz. In the wealth of experience and knowledge between Portland (Oregon) and Montreal (Quebec), meeting with Lane Selman of the Culinary Breeding Network was one or more illuminating. For years Lane has been organizing vegetable tastings, called "Variety Showcase", themed with horticultural research projects coordinated by the Culinary Breeding Network. The search for varieties to be protected, in addition to the culinary passion, has led to the collaboration between Lane and Myrtha, with the aim of increasing awareness of the Italian horticultural heritage we have. Especially in winter. In the group photo are the participating growers from the regions of Reggio-Emilia, Lombardia, Piemonte, Veneto, Trentino-Alto Adige, Friuli-Venezia Giulia Marche and Toscana who came together to create excitement about winter vegetables. Together, with guidance from Myrtha, they pulled together an inspiring event with the grace and beauty you would expect from Italians. They also created a community feeling and connections that will last far into the future.
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132 imagesThe 2020 Radicchio Expedition farm tour with Levantia Seed Company and Smarties Bio in the Chioggia area of Northern Italy
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108 imagesAzienda Agricola Rosato Nicola Rosato of Azienda Agricola Rosato in Piombino Dese in the Veneto region runs an impressive family farm business focusing on forcing radicchio which includes the gorgeous Rosa di Gorizia type and Treviso Tardivo IGP. This was a larger operation growing about 25-30 hectares of chicories (~60 acres) with a significant quantity of those to be forced. “Forcing” is the process of harvesting plants from the field with roots intact and storing them in an area without light for a period of time which results in a paler midrib, brilliant contrasting background colors, and more tender and mild leaves. By the end of the forcing stage plants look disgusting and are slimy on their surface. While the new inner leaves are growing, the outer leaves are rotting. The transformation that occurs when you strip the outer leaves away is nothing short of magical. In the end, the slimy, outer layers are discarded, and a stunning head of radicchio emerges! Nico grows Rosa (pink) types, Canarino (yellow), Castelfranco, an heirloom (100-year-old ) Castelfranco, Treviso Tardivo, Treviso Precoce and more. He also breeds own varieties and was currently working on a cross of the heirloom Castelfranco X Isontina. Nico has very high standards for his radicchio - looking for a specific “snap” or crunch in all the varieties he forces and dipping each head into cold water which results in the prefect leaf curl. The fruits of Nico’s labor and attention to detail are breathtaking.
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48 imagesAzienda Agricola Pitton Farmer/Seed Saver/Plant Breeder Andrea Pitton of Azienda Agricola Pitton was a conventional farmer growing commodity wheat, soy and corn until about six years ago when he converted to organic vegetables. He has 18 hectares in the comune of Rivignano in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy, grows vegetables on 2.5 ha and sells through a subscription program (like a CSA). Andrea grows Verona, Castlefranco and Tardivo types of radicchio. He prefers saving his own seed to buying commercial seed which is less flavorful and not as well adapted to his specific farm. He makes his own radicchio selections when he finds unique individuals in his field, creating new landraces adapted to his farm with qualities he appreciates. His Verona selection is called “Radicchio della Stella”, named for the nearby river. He has been selecting for 5 generations in 10 years of growing. Andrea also crosses different radicchio types including Stella x White Chioggia, which he is holding with Oregon farmer Dan Sullivan for Black Locust Farm. In addition to radicchio he grows two beautiful and delicious heirloom Brassicas - Broccolo Fiolaro and Broccolo Padovano. The cultivation of these vegetables date back several centuries and the latter cannot be found as seed commercially.
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42 imagesAzienda Agricola L’Orto Felice Caterina Romanelli farms 8 hectares in the city of Udine. She took over her family farm two years ago from her father. Her grandfather had dairy cows and was part of a typical cooperative that shared milk for cheese making – each farmer taking all of the milk for one month and making cheese with the farmers switching off months. Her father transitioned the farm to organic vegetables in 1988. Her grandparents continued to be part of the farm until they died about 5 years ago at which point the farm had grown too big for just the family to work and they needed to become more of a business with employees than a family farm. Caterina came home after working in sustainable finance in Paris but wanting to do something with more direct impact. She is currently working on transitioning the farm from an older style family farm that doesn’t track personal labor or expenses to one focusing on finances in addition to ecological and social metrics to make the farm sustainable in the long term. Among many other things, Caterina grows Radicchio col poc - “poc” is dialect and means “root”, referring mostly to grumulo radicchio types harvested with the root on and trimmed to a point. She also forces radicchio (see the Azienda Agricola Rosato section for more on this process) in little stalls in an old barn filled with damp sand and manure mix. Plants are transplanted into the stalls from the field and covered with black plastic. They remain there one month before being harvested and transformed into beautiful delicate specimens.
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46 imagesAzienda Agricola Tiare dal Gjal Fabio Bolzicco of Azienda Agricola Biologica Tiare dal Gjal in Corno di Rosazzo farms only a few miles from the Slovenia border. He has only been farming ten years, five of which organically. Fabio sells 99% of his produce at a farm stand on his farm. This is close to the area of Italy where the lovely Rosa di Gorizia grows, which has only been popular for about 10 years but described in books from Austrian era in 1800’s. Fabio likes to grow it because gets better price than Treviso Tardivo because it is not grown by larger scale farmers, thus there is less supply. To clarify any confusion, Rosa di Gorizia is a protected name which reflects it has been grown in Gorizia comune (municipality) in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy. Farmers that grow this same plant in another area name it for that particular place, thus Fabio’s is Rosa di Gjal. This concept is similar to Vidalia onions. What makes that onion a Vidalia is the place it is grown, not the particular variety. In the photo with four plants in a field in, you see the plants before (left) and after (right) the forcing process.
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41 imagesForno Brisa Bakery Day 1, we arrived in beautiful Bologna, Portland’s sister city, to convene the group and visit the fantastic bakery, Forno Brisa. The bakery is made up of 30 passionate young people that “believe taste, beauty and health are three fundamental pillars of food chain production, hospitality and sociability”. Forno Brisa is more than a group of bakers, they are strong activists of for locally grown whole grains (they grow ~35% of their own grains), “pasta madre” (sourdough starter) and all things naturally fermented (like wine and kombucha), and bitter (thus their Italians do it Bitter stickers). They hosted us for aperitivo followed by their delicious bread and pizza, and yes some had radicchio on it.
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