Like many, I remember Charlie Hicks from Veg Talk, a weekly show that ran on Radio 4 from 1998-2005. The show, according to Sheila Dillon, came into being after her interview with Charlie, a fourth-generation fruit and veg supplier at Covent Garden market, for an episode of The Food Programme exploring where chefs bought their produce. Sitting at the kitchen table with her husband the following evening, Sheila recounted her day and Charlie’s enormous knowledge, enthusiasm and ability to communicate both. A few days after that, a similar conversation took place with her colleagues at Radio 4, which resulted in Veg Talk – what’s in and what’s out in the world of fresh produce. As well as Charlie’s market report, each episode included a feature called “vegetable of the week” and the participation of studio guests – Angela Hartnett, Alastair Little, Rose Gray, Darina Allen and Mitch Tonks, to name just a few – and took calls from listeners.

The show had its critics – in a 2005 interview with the Independent, broadcaster Andy Kershaw is quoted as saying, “This show 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.

The next piece in my Charlie jigsaw was provided by the late cooking teacher and gardener Carla Tomasi in Rome. In the 1980s, Charlie supplied her restaurant Frith’s in Soho and, like so many chefs at the time, Carla was dependent on the excellent produce he sourced, especially because Frith’s, while not an Italian restaurant as such, drew heavily on Carla’s Roman-Marchigiana-Sardinian roots. It was Charlie who could bring her bitter greens, blood oranges, fresh beans, radicchio, rocket, artichokes and puntarelle.

Puntarelle was also the reason for my own first contact with Charlie, via Carla and this column. He called me out of the blue when putting together his market report, at the time a newsletter from his greengrocer’s shop. He wanted to talk about puntarelle, or cicoria di catalogna, a member of the chicory family that looks, at first glance, like an elongated head of lettuce with dark serrated outer leaves (very bitter) surrounding a cluster of pale green, succulent and hollow tubes (gently bitter), which have tips not dissimilar to asparagus. It was clear after about six seconds that Charlie was more than familiar with puntarelle, and Carla grew it in her garden just outside Rome, but between them (sponges that they were) they decided I must have had things to say, too.

We talked about puntarelle, Roman-style: the inner tubes are sliced into strips, curled in cold water and dressed with anchovy, garlic, olive oil and either lemon or vinegar. We also talked about the outer leaves, especially the smaller ones, which, bitter as they are, make a brilliant addition to salad, especially alongside a sweeter element (apple or persimmon, say); and with cheese, too. I have also added radicchio and a honey dressing.

This week’s recipe is a salad by which to remember Charlie.

Puntarelle, radicchio, celery, apple and cheese

Serves 4

**1 head puntarelle, or frisée ****1 small head ****radicchio 2 ****celery stalks ****1 crisp red apple ½ lemon 100g cheese – pecorino, grana padano asiago, manchego 6 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp red-wine vinegar ****2 tsp **runny honey Salt 100g ****walnut halvesFirst, trim the puntarelle. Pull away the dark outer leaves, discarding any that are tough or damaged, then pull apart the paler inner tubes, cut off the tough ends and slice the tubes into short lengths or on an angle. Break the radicchio into leaves. Wash everything, then dry and rip larger leaves into manageable bits.

Pull off and discard the strings from the celery stalks, then slice thinly on an angle. Don’t peel the apple, but quarter it, pare away and discard the core, then thinly slice the quarters, rubbing them over with the lemon so they don’t discolour. Use a potato peeler to cut off thin, uneven slices of cheese.

In the bottom of a large bowl, whisk the olive oil, vinegar, honey and a pinch of salt. Add the leaves, toss really well, then add the celery, apple and walnuts, and toss again. Add half the cheese, toss once more, then turn out the salad on to a large platter or four small plates, top with the remaining cheese and serve at once.