Unusual Vegetable Plants

Cardoons - Cynara Cardunculus

Cardoons are very closely related to Globe Artichokes as can be seen from their Latin Names and both are members of the thistle family. Indeed to the uninitiated they look very much like thistles when they are growing with the same type of leaves and flower head. With Globe Artichokes it is the unopened flower head that you eat, but with Cardoons it is the midrib of the long leaves. They are, in this respect, like Celery, but are eaten cooked and not raw. Cardoons are also grown like Celery because the long stems should be blanched for the best quality. This is done by tying the leaves together and wrapping them in black plastic and then earthing them up. If you have an old fashioned clay forcing cylinder, as can sometimes be seen on sale for forcing Rhubarb, that is even better, as the stems can sweat in plastic.

Cardoons have been popular in French cuisine for centuries, but are still not grown much in the UK. They can be used to flavour stews or boiled in salt water and served dripping with butter as you might serve Asparugus. Before cooking the stems should be trimmed, a little like you would Rhubarb, and coated with lemon juice to prevent them from going brown if they are not going to be cooked straight away.

Cardoons are an easy to grow, tall architectural plant with their large, toothed, silver green leaves and are relatively free from pests and diseases although they do require regular watering, especially in dry spells.