Radicchio Rosso: The Marvel from Treviso

Radicchio has been well know for long time: Pliny mentions the marvelous red-lined lettuces of the Veneto region in his Naturalis Historia, noting that in addition to being tasty they're good for insomnia and purifying the blood. In the Middle Ages it was especially popular among monks. Not that the plant was only limited to monastic kitchens; it also figured prominently on the tables of nobles, both cooked and raw: In 1537 Pietro Aretino advised a friend who had a garden to plant it, saying he much preferred it, "aroma-free lettuce” more than endives.
However,this radicchio isn't the radicchio rosso we know today: the modern radicchio with its rich wine-red white-ribbed leaves was developed in the 1860s by Francesco Van Den Borre, a Belgian agronomist who applied the techniques used to whiten Belgian endive to the plants grown around Treviso. The process, which is called imbianchimento (bleaching), is quite involved: the plants are harvested in late fall, their outer leaves are timed and discarded, they're packed into wire mesh baskets, and they're stood for several days in darkened sheds with their roots bathed in steadily circulating springwater that emerges from the ground at a temperature of about 15 C (60F). As they bathe the leaves of the hearts of the radicchio plants take on the pronounced wine-red color. At this point the farmer unties the bunches, strips away the outer leaves and, trims the root, and sends the radicchio to the market.

Radicchio Rosso di Treviso. The best, it comes in two varieties: Precoce, which has fleshy red leaves with white ribs that form a compact bunch, and Tardivo, which has much more pronounced ribs and the splayed leaves.Both Precoce and Tardico now enjoy IGP (Indicazione Geografica Protetta) status, which means that they can only be sold as such if they are produced around Treviso, under the supervision of the Consorzio Radicchio di Treviso.
Radicchio, like almost everything else in Italy, is quite seasonal, appearing in the markets in late November and remaining throughout the winter; it's tastiest after the frosts begin. It has also been introduced to California's Napa Valley and is becoming popular in the US too. Small wonder;Radicchio's bitterness is due to intybin, which stimulates the appetite and digestive system, and acts as a tonic for the blood too.


Vocabulary
rosso (Italian) (n.) สีแดง
marvel (n.) ความอัศจรรย์,ความพิศวง marvelous (adj.) ที่น่าอัศจรรย์,ที่น่าพิศวง
in addition to นอกจาก,มี......แถมมี..........
insomnia (n.) โรคนอนไม่หลับ
purify (v.) ฟอก,ทำให้สะอาด
nobel (n.) ชนชั้นสูง, ขุนนาง
endive (n.) ใบไม้ที่เป็นเครื่องเทศ
rib (n.) เส้นใบ
harvest (v.) เก็บเกี่ยว