Cardoon Comparison
Cardoon flower head
Jonathan >
We started growing cardoons, here in the walled garden, just last year. It started as an experiment driven by curiosity, and a desire for a wider variety of interesting plants in the garden – especially productive plants. We certainly love the flower heads! (We learned the knack of cooking and eating the sepals … and the heads make a beautiful room decoration.)
It was when, last autumn, we first tried adding chunks of cardoon stem to a lamb casserole that we realized how useful in the kitchen and how delicious this plant can be.
Just a few months later, in November last year, we made our first visit to Navarra (an autonomous province in NE Spain) – to see our daughter Catherine and her family – including our brand new grandson, Enaut. Exploring the lanes and groves around San Martin de Unx, we soon found the village’s allotments – along a narrow valley leading up towards UjuĂ©. As it was already almost winter, the allotments were largely bare – except for some hardy vegetables. We were intrigued as to what the tall plants were – with thick stems tied up – like celery on steroids! Catherine’s partner Ion was with us: he said they were el cardo – the cardoon! No wonder we didn’t recognise them : they didn’t have flower heads at that time of year, of course, but the chief difference was that these cardoons were 6ft / 2m tall – twice the height of ours – and stems twice as thick, too!
Our cardoon comparison resumed in the supermarket, where we discovered that cardoon is as much a staple of Navarrese cuisine as carrots or parsnips are in the UK : there you can buy cardoon stems fresh in season, and at any time of year in large jars or cans, the various brands and jar/can sizes occupying a lot of shelf-space! When we bought them we noticed about their cardoons – compared to ours, was how the stems were so light-coloured and tender. The secret to that, Catherine explained, was the blanching.
This year, in our own garden back in Uist, it became clear that there was no way that we could leave it until November to tie up and blanch the stems, as the autumn storms would destroy the plant long before then! So, we’re making our first experiment of blanching our own cardoon stems by tying them up in late summer, wrapping them in hessian, with a length of steel rebar (which we use during the summer for our tomato plants) to prevent them being snapped like matchsticks in the wind. We’re unsure how this is going to work, as there’s nothing in UK gardening books that helps us much with Hebridean conditions. We’ll try opening up one of these before we set off for Navarra at the beginning of October. We’ll leave some to try when we get back at the beginning of December.
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Hi, I have been growing cardoons for 6 years now. I tried several times to rap them for blanching but they ended up with so much damage on the stems as they cracked and bugs did extra damage too. So I have resorted to harvesting them and soaking in water and vinegar several times during the day and then boiling in water… then canning them in water, salt and garlic. I just love them! I am going to try to try blanching again next year using straw and lightly tying them up… you only need to block sun light. I think I get a lot of damage because of heat. The Cardoon plant is very upright is cooler weather but spreads out when it is hot so tying them up tight was a problem for me. I hope to hear from you about how things work out with your blanching.
J > I wish I’d had your insights earlier this year – in particular about the spreading. I haven’t yet done a follow-up post about this, because last year, when we got home from Navarra, a storm had completely trashed the cardoon plants – the supports weren’t strong enough. I am away in Navarra now (land of amazing cardoons!), but when i get home i will report on success or failure! Incidentally, i notice that the huge cardoons grown here are not made pale by blanching, but rather the stems don’t have that grey/silvery sheen that ours have in Scotland. Thanks again for your comments – and very interesting information.
I would love to go and see cardoons growing some ware, I am seeing a great deal of variety in my plants. Some have really fat leaves and some are thin and spiny looking. Some of mine have a lot of actual spines and the two I got from Spain have hardly any. I had one that had some purple on the stocks but I hate that one!! It is smaller like an artichoke plant and the stems leading to the flower are just like wood and never soften when you cook them. Next year I will try to blanch in the spring and the fall when it is not as hot. during the summer I soak in vinegar water like I have been doing. I look forward to hearing your updates
First congratulations on your grandson! I have never heard but somehow the pic looks familiar. Glad you are enjoying it though!
I’m interested to see how they turn out. Being perennial, you could also try blanching them next spring before they lflower? I have one cardoon that comes back year after year. i love the colour of the flowers – electric purple!
Good luck – eating Spanish style in Uist!
So amazing! I love the comparison pictures!
I hadn’t realized the stems are also edible, kinda like broccoli. I hope wrapping them in fabric will help keep them tender. I would imagine they might have the tendency to be very tough and coarse, like trying to chew on wooden pencils. Yes, blanching would have to be key in eating them, along with the fabric wrap.
I wonder how the chopped up cooked stems would taste in an omelette, along with some diced onion, tomatoes, sauteed mushrooms, and shredded cheese.
D > I wonder too : I’ll have to try. I’m sure the cardoon that comes in the jars would work. I hope ours turn out similar : but perhaps that’s just wishful thinking!