Preparation and serving methods

Radicchio is used mainly as leafy salad vegetable. Raw leaves have been sharp, pungent in flavor. Exposure to more intense daylight makes its leaves bitter, which is somewhat mellowed once cooked. In any case, the question may not be, why radicchio, but which radicchio? Radicchio (pronounced radEEkeyo) is the Italian name for a goodsized group of red chicories. These are not lettuce or cabbage, neither of which can replace radicchios fleshy, slightly bitter chewiness.