Lane Selman is the founding director of the Culinary Breeding Network based in Portland, Oregon. She is also a professor of practice at Oregon State University and the author of the brand new book Radicchio: A Celebration of the Beloved Italian Vegetable.

In this episode, Lane and I talk about the origin story behind the Culinary Breeding Network. We get into the importance of connecting plant breeders and farmers with chefs. And we talk about the importance of good open pollinated varieties in a shifting landscape where your favourite hybrids can suddenly disappear.

And then it is Radicchio time: we unravel the confusing nomenclature that surrounds this deliciously bitter vegetable, the precision of planting dates to get these plants to head up the right way, and the art and science of forcing Raidicchio.

I also gush quite a lot about Lane’s new book. I really loved reading it and it answered so many chicory questions that I’ve had for the longest time and so many questions I hadn’t even considered formulating.

Enjoy the conversation!

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Episode links

Get the book Radicchio: A Celebration of the Beloved Italian Vegetable https://www.culinarybreedingnetwork.com/radicchio-book

Culinary Breeding Network website https://www.culinarybreedingnetwork.com/

Culinary Breeding Network on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/culinarybreedingnetwork

Culinary Breeding Network on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@CulinaryBreedingNetwork

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❤️ Thanks for listening!