Produce Guide - R

Radicchio

It's almost impossible to find an up-market restaurant which doesn't feature radicchio on its menu. Closely related to endive and escarole, this red-leafed chicory has surged in popularity in North America, and it has long had a prized place in the salad bowls of Europe. Its bittersweet flavour is somewhere between lettuce and radish, adding warmth and bite to almost any salad.

Radicchio originates in Italy, and its name is literally translated as red chicory, of which there are dozens of varieties. The one commonly available, rossa di Verona, resembles a soft red cabbage about the size of a Bibb lettuce. Its colour can be anything from a deep purple-burgundy to a more coppery red. Sometimes you can find a loose-leaf radicchio called rosso di Treviso, which has pinkish-red leaves ranging in size from endive to romaine; it is especially meaty and chewy and perhaps a bit sweeter than the Verona variety. My pal Loris, who grows wonderful radicchio here in Nova Scotia, is probably responsible for my recent conversion to this super leaf vegetable. Available year-round, most of our radicchio comes from California, Mexico, Chile, and Italy.

Radishes

Radishes come in all shapes and sizes, including the prairie black radish, which is about the size of an orange but otherwise similar to the more familiar red radish. The garden variety produces tiny scarlet jewels, round or elongated, and the lovely bicolour French breakfast radishes are variegated red and white. Both have firm white flesh, a mild to eye-watering peppery flavour, and decided crunch. Too good raw and too fiddly to bother cooking, their pungent flavour clears the palate, so they make a simple and effective appetizer. Although they are available most of the year pre-packaged in cellophane, the best radishes are grown in the cool spring and autumn months; common radishes are one of the earliest spring crops. Look for fresh bunches of uniformly sized radishes, preferably with their crisp green tops still attached. Rinse in cool water and scrape away any blemishes before eating. Radishes should last for up to two weeks when stored, wrapped, in the refrigerator. If you're faced with a limp bunch of radishes, soak them in a bowl of ice water for an hour to perk them up.

The daikon or mooli radish, also known as the Oriental radish, is another matter altogether. Shaped like a carrot, with smooth white skin, this beauty usually weighs between 1 and 2 pounds (500 g - 1 kg), although the record-breakers weigh in at over 50 pounds (23 kg)! Despite their size, daikons are mild in comparison to common red or French breakfast radishes. They tend to be most mild and flavourful in fall and winter, growing hotter and less appealing during the spring and summer months. Choose smooth, un-blemished daikons with slightly shiny skins. As their flavour is not affected by size, you can choose one to fit your refrigerator. Don't be shy about asking your greengrocer to cut a section for you if the entire root looks too daunting. Unlike red radishes, daikons are quite perishable, turning dry, spongy, and loosing flavour; use them raw within 2-3 days of purchase. Grate some into a coleslaw, or add diced raw daikon to a creamy chicken or tuna salad. Daikons also add crunch and texture to soups and stir-fries; for cooking purposes, they will last for up to a week, wrapped in plastic and refrigerated.

Rapini

Rapini is a fairly new vegetable to most North Americans, although until a few years ago it was better known in Europe - especially in Italy - than our more common broccoli, to which it is closely related. It makes a magnificent table centrepiece, with its tiny buds of broccoli bunched in with large, spiky leaves and the occasional yellow flower. However, for my money, I'd rather eat it. It packs a wallop of flavour, its aggressive bitter taste being so well suited to both spicy and sweet seasoning that it's a favourite with Italian and Asian cooks.

Since the bulk of our rapini comes from California, it is usually available throughout the year, but its peak season is in the cooler months, from late fall to early spring. Look for deep green leaves, firm slim stems, and just a few small, tightly closed buds. The heads can be purple, green, or white. Avoid those with limp stems or wilted, tired leaves.

You can store well-wrapped rapini in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. To prepare, rinse thoroughly under cold, running water, shake dry, and trim away any coarse stems. If you're trying rapini for the first time, simply steam the whole head in an inch or so of lightly salted boiling water for about 5 minutes, then drain it well and serve it with a vinaigrette. It can also be chopped and sautéed in olive oil with crushed garlic and a splash of soy sauce. Rapini does have a tendency to overwhelm the uninitiated palate, and if you find the flavour a bit too strong, I suggest blanching it for a few minutes in boiling salted water and then draining it well before combining it in a recipe with other assertive flavours. Spicy Italian sausage is an excellent partner, and a red-hot Asian stir-fry is a good bet. Alternatively, you can mellow the flavour by braising rapini in cream, as you might cook spinach.

Raspberries

Raspberries have got to be one of my all-time favourite berries. Technically speaking they are not actually berries, but "etaerios of druplets" - clusters of small fruits with stones. A member of the rose family, raspberries are related to blackberries, bakeapples, and salmon-berries. They grow wild and are also cultivated, and there are golden and black raspberries as well as the more common red variety, which tend to be sweeter.

At their best, raspberries are soft and juicy, with an intense yet delicate flavour. It's too bad that they tend to be a bit of a one-day wonder, since they're extremely fragile and don't store well. Luckily there are pockets right across Canada that have the right sort of climate for growing raspberries, including the Maritimes. They appear earlier out west, around late July, while the season on the East Coast can extend into early September. California keeps us supplied eight months of the year, with Chile filling in during the winter months. However, the best raspberries are local, since they can be left on the vine until they reach full ripeness. And you can't do better than picking them yourself, since it's easier to carry out frequent taste-testing in the field than it is in the produce department.

Rhubarb

Botanically speaking, rhubarb is a vegetable, but in 1947 the United States Customs Court ruled that it was a fruit, presumably because that's how we most commonly eat it. And we do eat it. Rhubarb is still a big-time favourite among Canadians, who look forward to its appearance when most fruits are still just thinking about summer. A hardy perennial, rhubarb does very well in northern climates, and many of us have a rhubarb patch lurking somewhere in the back yard, whether we want it there or not.

Rhubarb is commonly found at roadside stands, farmers' markets, and supermarkets during early summer, with a second crop showing up in September. However, you can usually find "forced" rhubarb at the supermarket in late spring. The slim, tender stalks of forced rhubarb - whether grown outside under pots or in a greenhouse - tend to be sweeter than later rhubarb, and are certainly worth looking out for. While there are many rhubarb strains, they are rarely, if ever, sold by varietal name. The sweetest and most flavourful rhubarb has slender, bright red stalks, and is often known by the nickname "strawberry rhubarb."

Rutabaga

Rutabaga is one of those vegetables that gets lost in the shuffle, both in terms of its name and also amongst the other roots at the supermarket. Commonly mistaken for a turnip (which it is not), it is sometimes called a swede or a neep. A member of the cabbage family, the rutabaga was known in England as turnip-rooted cabbage until early in the 19th century, when Sweden began exporting them. Thus they became swedes. The Scots insisted on thinking of them as turnips and so called them neeps. Both names have stuck.

Rutabaga, swede, or neep, this root is fatter than the turnip and has a thick golden skin tinged reddish-brown at the top. Its flesh is creamy yellow in colour and firmer and sweeter than the white flesh of the turnip. Like other root vegetables, rutabagas are available year-round, although the peak season is between November and March, when they've been nipped by cold weather, turning them sweet. Most are large in size, but you can sometimes find smaller ones, which will be sweeter and more tender. In any case, make sure the root feels heavy for its size and has a smooth and unblemished skin. Especially in the winter, rutabagas may be waxed to keep them fresh.

If you have a cool, dark, dry place for vegetable storage, you can keep a rutabaga for a couple of months. In a plastic bag in the refrigerator, it will stay fresh for about a week. Scrub and peel it using a sharp knife; any wax will come off with the skin. Then slice or chop it according to how it will be cooked.