Cardoon

Cardon

What it is

The artichoke’s wilder ancestor, eaten for its ribs rather than its flower. Piedmont dips the raw stalks into bagna cauda — hot anchovy and garlic bath — while Lyon gratinées them with marrow for Christmas; two regions, one thistle, both convinced they invented it.

In the kitchen

String it like celery, blanch it in lemony water, and pair it with anything salty-deep: anchovy, parmesan, marrow. The bitterness is the point, not the flaw.

Goes with

Anchovy Garlic Parmesan Butter Cream

Same species

Artichoke Camus de Bretagne artichoke Hunchback cardoon Mammola artichoke Poivrade artichoke

In season alongside

Broccoli Cime di rapa Citron Belgian endive Frisée Ginkgo nut

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