It’s been snowing today. So the sky and the general palette of the day are overwhelmed by whiteness (read: cold). And yet. And yet. When I walked into the vegetable vendor’s this morning, I was pleasantly ambushed by the persistent presence of red, pink and rose. Taking the charge, among the salads, was a radicchio rosa that I’d never seen. Befitting a Valentino runway, surely it would be as good to eat with the mouth as with the eyes. I took two small heads of it. And was pleased to discover, that it did not disappoint.
But this was just the beginning. There were several varieties of radicchio—both darker and variegated. (I passed.) There were radishes (rapanelli), red scallions (cipollotti), and rose tinged heads of garlic. And then, calling my name, was a small tub of olives, trying to be green, but wearing a veil of pink despite themselves. I grabbed a few of these items, though there were more, for the purpose of photographing them, and then I thought: what the heck, I’ll toss them together and eat them, too.
As if a gastronomic painter were at work behind the scenes, the flavors married and mingled beautifully as one might—sort of—have anticipated. The cautiously bitter nip of the rose radicchio, the audacious snap of the radish, the surprisingly sweet tang of the scallion, and the decisive punctuation of the paper-thin garlic slices mingled sociably under a drizzle of olive oil and a scattered pinch of sea salt. The olives were thrown on for appearances and to satisfy the voglia (craving) of the hungry photographer. Most likely the experiment of putting things together that visually “go together” doesn’t always work, but maybe it does. Nature is funny—and obliging—that way.
The Daily Cure 
Beautiful and YUMMY!!!
Hi you!! Yes it was yummy! I may be the only person who would put raw sliced garlic on a salad, but my sister-in-law tosses fennel in it (with shavings of parmesan) and it is really good, so I thought, why not? I also have this feeling that garlic cures almost everything. Thanks for checking in Finny! Love having you.
That’s my girl! Thanks so much for these. How wonderful our heads are: eyes and nose and mouth (with tongue and teeth) right up front, at the highest point, where we can gobble everything at once: be seduced by a deep sniff, take it in both visually and orally, and whuff it down. Efficient design!! What a piece of work is a man (i.e., human species). Love, Mom
oh, we dice raw garlic and toss it in our “caeser” salad dressing ALL the time. kinda burns but in a good way. then, for visual affect and satisfaction, we toss a few little cherry tomatoes in the mix. they say you first eat with your eyes. i LOVE the images. so i guess i’m ONLY eating with my eyes, in this case. thank you!
Are you saying that there are people in this world who DON”T use slices of raw garlic?
Seriously, though, what a wonderful feast for the eyes. It would have been the perfect complement to our shrimp and white bean dinner last night!
Ha ha! I love you and your answer! Garlic lovers unite! And yes our meals would have gone peferctly together. Shrimp and white bean…that’s sounding quite Tuscan.