11/27/2025
There is no typical chicory—it’s a big tent with a wide range of gorgeous colors, shapes, and textures. The common thread is bitterness in varying degrees.
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Chicories are closely related to lettuces, in the same botanical family, but separate genera. Think of chicories as lettuces with thicker leaves and bitter notes. Often, when chicories are cooked, their sweetness becomes more apparent, toning down the bitterness. So if Luna Rossa radicchio is too bitter for you, try sautéing it before stirring into risotto or tossing with pasta, or grilling it before dressing as a warm salad.
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Catalogna chicory is one of our favorites, grown for its flower stems that look like fat white asparagus, known as puntarelle. This old Italian variety is more mild and less bitter than most other chicories and is wonderful served raw in salads or cooked and added to dishes as you would any other winter vegetable. If you want to go traditional, julienne the individual stems, place them in ice water so they curl up, and serve raw as a salad, dressed with an anchovy vinaigrette. Served this simply, puntarelle is crunchy, juicy, unusual, and very delicious.
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Beautiful, delicious chicories are available from fall through winter and we thank for these gorgeous examples.
