Radic di Mont

A tender wild chicory is picked from the mountain pastures in Carnia as the snow recedes in the spring. Used in salads and frittatas, its scientific name is “Cicerbita alpina”, but in this corner of Friuli it is known as radìc di mont, or radìc dal glaz. Radìc grows abundantly on the mountain slopes, still soaked with water from the melting snow. Its shoots are an unusual purple color, of varying intensity depending on the terrain, and very tender because of the cold temperatures. The chicory is gathered in other parts of the Alps, but it is a typical Carnian tradition to preserve the radìc in oil, so that it can be consumed year-round.

Season

Radìc is harvested in a very limited period of time, about 15 days at the beginning of May, when the snows on the alpine pastures melt. It is then placed in oil and is available all year round