Radicchio: A Celebration of The Beloved Italian Vegetables

The Farmers and Foodways series presents a book release event for Radicchio: A Celebration of the Beloved Italian Vegetable.

Join local radicchio grower and book contributor Davide to explore the colorful and fascinating world of Italian chicories! Whether you’re an avid fresh-food eater, gardener, vegetable farmer, home cook, professional chef, or just a fan of all things Italian, come celebrate the release of Radicchio, the beautiful new book by Lane Selman and Margarett Waterbury.

Davide will lead a conversation about radicchio history and diversity (yes, there is much more to radicchio than just the purple round cabbage-looking veggie you might be familiar with!), growing traditions and culinary applications. He will share stories about his time apprenticing with Italian vegetable farmers, recipes from his Nonna’s peasant upbringing, and insights on how the work done to create the book has allowed farmers from different continents to connect and collaborate in their efforts to preserve traditions and seed diversity while producing a bountiful harvest for the winter market. Time for questions will follow.

Free event – Books available for sale

Photo credits Shawn Linehan

Book Overview

A once-obscure vegetable with a reputation for bitterness, radicchio has deep roots in Italy where it has long been celebrated as a central part of Italian cuisine. Over the last several years, radicchio has undergone a renaissance in the United States, inspired, in major part, by the work of Lane Selman. Radicchio is now appearing in top food magazines and on restaurant menus across the country, and people are catching on. American farmers are also growing more radicchio, as it performs well in the field and brings color and beauty to the winter table.

A captivating cookbook for chefs, home cooks, gardeners, and anyone interested in Italian culture, Radicchio offers easy, delicious recipes by contributors from Italy and the US, including chefs, grandmothers, and farmers for using radicchio in pasta, rice, polenta, pizza, with protein, in salads, preserved, and in sweets, celebrating the exuberance of the world of radicchio in all its forms and permutations. With gorgeous photographs showcasing the connection between Italian and North American culinary culture, Radicchio is also the first in-depth book on the subject, sure to be considered the ultimate resource.

The authors

Lane Selman is a Professor of Practice at Oregon State University and a nationally recognized leader in the movement to connect agriculture, flavor, and community. She grew up in Florida where her childhood was shaped by working with her extensive Sicilian family on their citrus farm. Her connection to the land, her Sicilian roots, and time spent cooking each day with her nonna formed the foundation of her life’s work. In 2012, she founded the Culinary Breeding Network, a community-driven initiative that connects plant breeders, farmers, chefs, and eaters to develop and promote diverse, organic, and flavorful varieties of vegetables, grains, pulses, and fruits. By helping breeders create new varieties, promoting biodiversity and bringing people together, she has reshaped how we grow our food, and how we celebrate it. Lane’s work has been featured in The New York Times, Food & Wine, The Wall Street Journal, Civil Eats, Eating Well, and Saveur. She is a dual American and Italian citizen and continues to deepen her roots in both places. Lane lives in Portland, Oregon with her son Pasquale.

Margarett Waterbury is an award-winning writer and editor interested in how landscape, history, and culture shape what’s on our tables. She is the author of Scotch: A Complete Introduction to Scotland’s Whiskies and the editor-in-chief of Distiller Magazine. Her work has appeared in Epicurious, Whetstone, Food & Wine, Whisky Advocate, Civil Eats, and many other publications. An enthusiastic gardener and home cook, she has a special fondness for the wild foods of the Northwest and growing really big garlic. Margarett has traveled extensively throughout Italy over the past two decades and speaks just enough Italian that people are generally willing to entertain her probing questions. She grew up in Southeast Alaska and on an island in Puget Sound, and now lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband, who owns a small distillery. You can find her online at @margarett_maria.

Photography by Shawn Linehan.