tH
# 78 APRIL 18 , 2016
leaves or shredded corn
stalks and a tarp so that
they remain in the dark.
They stay here for about
15 days.
The red hearts with long
white red-violet ribs are
cleaned in water, also retaining a portion of the taproot, which is also edible.
The product is marketable
only from mid-November (the forcing process
can start only after the
first two autumn frosts)
until mid-March and has
had PGI recognition since
1996.
This bleaching process
allows the plant killed by
the cold to “wake up”, “deceived” by the warmth of
the water, and to flourish
again even in heart of the
winter. The darkness prevents photosynthesis and
two weeks are sufficient
to ensure that the new, The area
reborn chicory heart is
completely without green The cultivation of Radicchio Rosso di Treviso IGP
chlorophyll.
is only possible in the
The ground water then al- fields of 24 municipalities
lows the plant to comple- in the Veneto region.
tely purify itself, removing
all traces of the pesticides Production is thus located
used in the field. After re- in the central Veneto plain,
moving the last leaves, which is characterized
nothing remains of the by warm summers and
plant that grew for months harsh winters that have a
profound effect on the liin the field.
fecycle of the plant. The
soil is fertile and particularly rich in water: in fact, it
is the area crossed by the
so-called “line of springs”
that separates the high
and low plains. Here the
pure groundwater that
flows down from Dolomites and runs underground
under a mattress of gravel, meets less permeable
layers such as clays and
spontaneously rises to the
surface creating a various
streams.
The most important is the
Sile, whose wetland - the
cradle of a unique ecosystem - is protected by the
Regional Park. It is precisely the abundance of
pure water that is a crucial
element in the production
process of Radicchio Rosso di Treviso IGP.
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