A Crisp and Punchy Italian Salad

The best recipes often come with a story, a connection to a person or a place that makes them more than just a list of ingredients. For food writer Rachel Roddy, this week's recipe—a crisp, punchy salad of puntarelle, radicchio, celery, apple and cheese—is a tribute woven with memory, friendship, and the enduring legacy of a man who knew his vegetables like few others: the late Charlie Hicks.

For many in Britain, the name Charlie Hicks evokes the warm, knowledgeable voice of Radio 4's "Veg Talk," a weekly show that ran from 1998 to 2005. The program, born from an interview for "The Food Programme," became a cult favorite for shoppers and chefs alike, offering a market report, a "vegetable of the week," and lively banter with guests like Angela Hartnett and Alastair Little.

"The show had its critics," Roddy writes, recalling broadcaster Andy Kershaw's infamous 2005 quote that it "should have been strangled at birth." "But it also had legions of fans (myself included), who tuned in mostly for Charlie’s expertise accumulated over a lifetime of working the markets, cooking with his wife, Anna, talking to growers and reading, so it was both practical and scholarly. Add to this his sharp humour, easy bantering relationships and warm voice."

Roddy's personal connection to Hicks was bridged by another figure: the late cooking teacher Carla Tomasi in Rome. In the 1980s, Hicks supplied Tomasi's Soho restaurant, Frith's, with the bitter greens, blood oranges, and artichokes that anchored her Roman-inspired cooking. It was through Tomasi and a shared passion for a particular vegetable that Roddy finally heard Hicks's voice directly.

"He called me out of the blue," Roddy recounts. The subject was puntarelle, or cicoria di catalogna, a versatile Italian chicory prized in Roman cuisine. "It was clear after about six seconds that Charlie was more than familiar with puntarelle," she writes, but in a characteristic act of generous curiosity, he and Tomasi decided Roddy "must have had things to say, too."

Their conversation explored the classic Roman preparation—where the inner, hollow tubes are sliced, curled in cold water, and dressed with anchovy and garlic—as well as the potential of the bitter outer leaves. "Bitter as they are," Roddy notes, "they make a brilliant addition to salad, especially alongside a sweeter element (apple or persimmon, say); and with cheese, too."

This philosophy is the heart of the recipe Roddy offers as her tribute. It is a salad built on contrasts: the profound bitterness of radicchio and puntarelle leaves, the sweet crunch of apple and walnut, the salty sharpness of shaved cheese, all brought together by a simple honey dressing.

It is, in essence, a salad about connection—between bitter and sweet, between Rome and London, and between people bound by a love for the quiet, profound stories told by vegetables.

In Memoriam: The Recipe

Puntarelle, Radicchio, Celery, Apple and Cheese Salad

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 head puntarelle, or frisée as an alternative

1 small head radicchio

2 celery stalks

1 crisp red apple

½ lemon

100g cheese (such as pecorino, Grana Padano, Asiago, or Manchego)

6 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp red-wine vinegar

2 tsp runny honey

Salt

100g walnut halves

Method:

Prepare the bitter greens. Trim the puntarelle by pulling away the dark, serrated outer leaves (saving smaller, tender ones). Separate the pale inner tubes, trim their ends, and slice them into short lengths. Break the radicchio into leaves. Wash and dry all leaves, tearing larger ones into bite-sized pieces.

Prepare the accompaniments. Remove the strings from the celery stalks and slice them thinly on an angle. Quarter and core the apple, then slice it thinly, rubbing the pieces with the lemon half to prevent browning. Use a vegetable peeler to shave the cheese into thin, rustic slices.

Make the dressing. In the bottom of a large serving bowl, whisk together the olive oil, red-wine vinegar, honey, and a pinch of salt until emulsified.

Assemble. Add the prepared puntarelle and radicchio leaves to the bowl and toss thoroughly to coat in the dressing. Add the sliced celery, apple, and walnut halves, and toss again gently. Add half of the shaved cheese and toss once more.

Serve. Transfer the salad to a large platter or individual plates. Top with the remaining shaved cheese and serve immediately.