Radicchio di Treviso
Description
Treviso has the strongest flavor of all the radicchio varieties, wine red with narrow, white ribbed closed and elongated leaves.
Applications/Techniques
Excellent grilled or as an accompaniment to cheeses and tangy vinaigrettes.
History
Modern cultivation of the plant began in the fifteenth century, in the Veneto and Trentino regions of Italy, but the deep-red radicchio of today was engineered in 1860 by the Belgian agronomist Francesco Van den Borre, who used a technique called imbianchimento (whitening), preforcing, or blanching to create the dark red, white-veined leaves. Radicchio plants are taken from the ground and placed in water in darkened sheds, where lack of light and ensuing inhibition of chlorophyll production cause the plants to lose their green pigmentation.
