Bitter taste aficionados get ready to learn everything you need to know on radicchio! The Italian vegetable will be the center of attention during “Radicchio Week” when radicchio farmers and chefs from the Pacific Northwest and Northern Italy discuss its history, taste and cultivation at the Winter Vegetable Sagra festival.
The four-day program, hosted by the Culinary Breeding Network, includes virtual farm tours and two cooking sessions in Italy and in Portland, Oregon. James Beard Award-winning chef, Cathy Whims from Nostrana restaurant, will demonstrate how to use the ingredient in a pizza and an appetizer.
The first Radicchio Week started in Seattle a couple of years ago. Inspired by the Italian Slow Food Movement and regional food festivals known as “sagre,” Culinary Breeding Network founder Lane Selman decided to launch a radicchio revolution in the Pacific Northwest, a region that shares a similar climate and latitude to parts of Northern Italy. Last year, the network made their first “Radicchio expedition” to Veneto, Trentino-Alto Adige and Fruili-Venezia Giulia areas of Italy.
Tune into RadTV YouTube channel at 10 am PST - Register in advance.
Schedule
Dec 7: History of radicchio with Andrea Ghedina @smarties.bio
Dec 8: Cooking with Italian farmer @dadisimul and his nonna
Dec 9: Cooking radicchio as an appetizer and pizza with Portland’s legendary chef Cathy Whims from @nostranapdx
Dec 10: Forcing techniques with @uprising.seeds @localrootsfarm and @wildrootsfarmers
Dec 11: Late season variety trials with Linda Fenstermaker @osbornequalityseeds