Cardoons are thistles like artichokes, and started to turn brown (like artichokes) as I pulled the tough strings from the celery-like ribs. Unlike artichokes, you eat the stem, not the flower, at least in this variety. (Trivia: You can set cheese curd using the plant as rennet, and they grow wild in dry soils.)
The stalks were covered in down, a cross between heavy spiders webbing and thin fruit pith. This wouldn’t remove easily, and I’m not sure I was supposed to remove it, or if it was supposed to be there – I had ignored them for two weeks in my refrigerator and lost the prep instructions. I had only memory to guide me, and you know how that is these days.
I plunked the sections into near-boiling salted water, and went to the refrigerator for my trusty yellow plastic lemon that would allow me to set the green color. Expired in August! I gave it a few squirts anyway.
After ½ hour, letting them come to the boil, I could pierce them easily with a knife.
I served the cardoons with a mushroom risotto and baked salmon (which Health Professionals have recommended I eat to lower my cholesterol – or blood pressure - probably both, I can’t recall).
(No points for plating) The cardoons were firm and crunchy, just like blanched celery. There was a very subtle flavor that I couldn’t quite identify – artichokes, maybe? The risotto overwhelmed them.
The verdict: I was surprised by the delicate flavor of a plant with a reputation for being bitter, and I look forward to enjoying them again at the end of the next summer season – perhaps with simple garlic and olive oil.
