Rosa di Gorizia ◆

Rosa di Gorizia

What it is

It is a chicory sown in spring and left in the ground until the frosts, then lifted, replanted in dark cellars and opened leaf by leaf by hand: eight months of work for a head the size of a fist. A handful of growers in the hills around Gorizia produce all of it, in December and January, and it is trimmed and dressed at the table rather than in the kitchen.

In the kitchen

Do not shred it — the rose is what you are paying for. Lift off the outer leaves only if there is grit, then dress the whole head at the table with oil, salt and a drop of vinegar; with warm pancetta the vinegar goes into the pan, never onto the chicory.

Goes with

Olive oil Pancetta Egg Walnut Balsamic vinegar Stone-ground polenta

Same species

Barbe de capucin Castelfranco chicory Belgian endive Escarole Frisée Puntarelle

In season alongside

Pomelo Pauillac lamb Japanese tilefish (amadai) Northern sweet shrimp Baek-kimchi Nantucket bay scallop

Something wrong here, or missing? Tell us