Cardoon Gobbo Di Nizza – pre order for delivery by 7th June

Description

Cardoon Gobbo Di Nizza is a heritage variety of Cardoon ( Cynara cardunculus) and is a fantastic perennial vegetable – edible, ornamental, bee friendly and architectural. Cardoons are a delicacy eaten widely in Italy and France but not so common in this country. They share many characteristics with their close cousin the Globe Artichoke, having attractive green leaves with a dusting of silvery grey. Cardoons are grown for their edible creamy stems, ridged like celery stalks rather than their flower buds. Their leaves can reach 3ft or more in length and in summer they throw up a profusion of vivid purple thistle flowers that tower above head height which are fantastic for bees. They bathe on the flower tops and go into a stupor, drunk on pollen and perfume – it is quite a sight. The flower stems can also be cut when dried in autumn for arrangements indoors or left for birds and insects over winter.

Plant out in May/June, they need a final spacing of about 75-90cm and need to be kept well watered for the first few months. Mediterranean in heritage, they a love a sunny site in well drained soil, but do consider their mature size when planting and the shade they create. Being perennials they seem to withstand all that nature can throw at them and in my experience suffer few pests. They are also remarkably hardy and once established return year after year without any problem. You can mulch plants over winter to protect the roots if it is a particularly cold one. Ours grow at high elevation on Dartmoor and have survived -15c and still emerged in the spring.

In September through to mid November it is traditional to blanch the cardoons by wrapping layers of cardboard or sacking around the stems and tying it up with string leaving the fronds of leaves poking out of the top. This helps to make the stems tender and removes the bitterness before harvesting. 3-4 weeks of blanching is usually enough and then you can cut individual stems for eating or slice the whole plant at its base like a monster head of celery. Cardoons can be harvested right through to late spring and the new growth is generally quite tender even if you don’t blanch the stems.

From being a victorian favourite, perhaps Cardoons have fallen out of favour because they take a little bit of preparation in the kitchen. Taste the delicious smokey, earthy artichoke-yness of cardoons on a cold winter’s night and you will become an instant convert! Almost all Cardoon dishes start of with removing the leaves from the stems, peeling off any stringy bits from the ridged outer side and then placing in water with a dash of vinegar or squeeze of lemon juice. This stops the stems from turning brown and helps to sweeten the flavour. Cut into batons, simmer in a pan of water until tender and your cardoons are then ready to use in a variety of ways. One of my favourite dishes is a bubbling Cardoon and Stilton gratin but they are also superb fried with crispy coatings.