P
Italian · Puglia
Cicoria Selvatica con Fave Fresche alla Pugliese
The most ancient pairing in Pugliese cucina povera: wild chicory (cicoria di campo) blanched until tender and silky, served alongside a rough purée of fresh fava beans cooked with garlic and olive oil. The bitterness of wild chicory and the grassy sweetness of fresh favas create a natural balance. Called by some food historians the oldest continuously made dish in Italy — the fava-and-chicory combination predates recorded history in the region. The contrast is everything: bitter green against sweet legume, rough chicory against smooth purée.
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I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
600 g
Cicoria di campo (wild chicory)
foraged or market-sourced; not Belgian endive or cultivated chicory
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 kg
Fave fresche (fresh fava beans)
in pod; double-peeled — outer pod removed, inner skin removed
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2 cloves
Garlic
peeled
Your own market
100 ml
Extra-virgin olive oil
raw, for dressing and cooking; quantity generous
Your own market
1 tsp
Fine sea salt
for blanching water and seasoning
Your own market
II
The Method
1
Bring a large pot of abundantly salted water to a full boil. Add the cicoria di campo and blanch for 5–7 minutes until the stems yield without resistance and the leaves are completely tender and silky. Drain, squeeze firmly dry, and set aside. The greens should be limp and cohesive, not waterlogged.
2
Warm a generous pour of olive oil in a wide pan over moderate heat. Add the garlic cloves and let them colour lightly. Add the double-peeled fave fresche and cook briefly, stirring, until the beans are just tender throughout but still hold their form. Remove the garlic. This is where the dish lives or dies: mash the favas roughly in the pan with a fork or the back of a spoon — the purée must retain visible texture and body, not collapse into a smooth paste. The surface should show broken pieces amid the creamy mass.
3
Dress the squeezed cicoria with a generous hand of raw extra-virgin olive oil, turning to coat each strand. Taste and correct for salt. The leaves should glisten and carry the oil throughout.
4
Arrange the cicoria and the rough fava purée side by side on each plate — the two components distinct, not combined. Finish with a further thread of raw olive oil over both. The bitterness of the greens and the grassy sweetness of the favas should be immediately legible as separate, complementary presences.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Freshly foraged cicoria di campo at peak bitterness, and fave fresche from a named Apulian variety, dressed with a single-estate Pugliese oil of marked pepperiness.
02
Estate — Wild chicory sourced from a specialist market supplier; fresh favas double-peeled on the day; a quality Pugliese extra-virgin olive oil.
03
Market — Wild-type cicoria from a farmers' market; fresh favas in season from a reliable greengrocer; a sound southern Italian extra-virgin olive oil.
04
House — Dried, split fave secche (soaked and cooked) substituted for fresh — the ancient non-seasonal version, equally correct — with the best olive oil available.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Touch. Blanched cicoria stems compress without resistance between the fingers and the squeezed mass holds together without releasing excess water.
◇Sight. The rough fava purée shows broken pieces and irregular surface — not smooth or uniform — before leaving the pan.
◇Sight. The dressed cicoria glistens evenly with olive oil, each strand coated, no pooling at the bottom of the bowl.
◇Where it lives or dies. The fava purée must be mashed roughly — enough texture to contrast the soft chicory; a smooth purée collapses the dish's defining tension.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Sparkling wine
From British Columbia
Wine
Without alcohol
GT's Synergy Organic Kombucha — Gingerade
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Non-alcoholic
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The whole pairingPillar VII
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Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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