Chioggia

Chioggia produces roots one to three inches to medium-large, globular to oval and slightly flattened, topped with wide green leaves and firm, crunchy red stalks. Its skin ranges from light pinkish-red to a firmer burgundy or dark red, semi-rough with fine hairs, spots, and indentations. Sliced open, the dense flesh reveals its signature candy-stripe pattern of concentric white and fuchsia or pink rings, the source of its candy stripe or bulls-eye nicknames. Raw, the roots are crunchy with a strong earthy flavor; cooked, they soften into a tender texture with a sweet, earthy taste.

Chioggia's thinnings, pulled as seedlings establish, can be added directly to salads rather than discarded. Its greens are also edible and can be cooked in the same way as spinach. The roots are often shaved raw into salads as a festive, sweet addition, and while they store well after harvest, quality is best when the roots are picked promptly.

Chioggia loses quality once its roots grow large, making prompt harvest important for the best eating quality. It is markedly frost tolerant, germinating in soil as cool as 40 degrees Fahrenheit and withstanding frost well into the season once established. As a cool-weather crop suited to spring or fall harvest, it can still germinate in soil up to 85 degrees, though warm conditions push the roots toward woodiness and bitterness.

Chioggia is an Italian heirloom beet dating to around 1840, named for the fishing village near the Venice Lagoon where it was first cultivated. By the early twentieth century, the rise of industrial agriculture's preference for uniform, high-yield crops pushed heirlooms like this one toward disappearance. It survived for decades in scattered home gardens and private seed stashes, kept alive by Italian growers who preserved its lineage.