Buds from one of the many cut-and-come-again chicroy varieties.

The chicory family includes a large number of wonder edible greens. Chicories are most prized in Italy. If you visit Italy be sure to look at he seed selection in plant stores. It is legal to carry packaged seeds across most borders, including into the United States. You can also find chicories in seed catalogues that emphasize European plant selections, though the largest number of chicory varieties is offered by Italian seed companies.

Chicories are usually grown for their leaves. The taste of chicory leaves varies from bitter (raddichio) to mild. Chicories are perennials, however, they are usually grown as annuals. This is because the blooming cycle is a long one. If you are only interested in chicory leaves then this long blooming cycle is a waste of garden space. But if you eat the buds, then the blooming cycle turns out to be the most productive cycle in the plant’s life.

Chicory plants “bolt” when they bloom. Some varieties shoot up to six feet (2m). The little plant becomes a massive bush. Most of that bush is edible.

I first learned of eating chicory buds from Aldo, an Italian from Liguria who grows vegetables in the same community garden I do. One year a group of my chicories were blooming. Aldo saw me, and them, and came over to my plot. “These are the best part,” he said. He then explained that the chicory buds — pick the buds and as much stem as is tender — are best prepared when they are boiled in lightly salted water for a few minutes, and then sauteed with pork sausage. I asked him why, since they were the best part, did he always take out his plants before they bloomed. He said that his wife is American and doesn’t like bitter flavors.

Chicory buds are a little bitter. To me it is a delicous bitterness. In Aldo’s mind they must be eaten with pork. But I find them to be delicious just dressed with salt and olive oil. However you use them, parboil them first, then plunge them in cold water, drain, sqeeze dry, and proceed with your preparation.