Cardoon 'Porto Spineless'

The flower heads of this ornamental plant are adorned for weeks with azure blue to violet-pink ray florets. Its vase life is exceptional! Height 160 cm, flowers in the first year from August; in mild winters, the plant persists and flowers as early as July. After flowering, we see the fantastic ripening, which birds and mice gratefully eat. The blanched midrib is eaten. The thornless characteristic is highly appreciated!
In the Netherlands, the midrib is usually more tender than in Italy, and thus the cooking time is considerably shorter. The preparation is as follows: separate the midrib from the leaf pulp. Remove any ribbed sides and the outer skin. Then cut into pieces of about 1 cm. Cook gently until tender, which can be as little as 25 minutes. Delicious with a cheese sauce!

Cardoon is a thistle-like relative of the artichoke. You eat the fleshy leaf stalk, which is wrapped in black foil a few weeks before harvest to blanch it. There are also other blanching methods. The flower is an ornament for the garden and vase and is therefore often cultivated for this purpose. However, we are increasingly seeing serious eaters, and we have collected various varieties for comparison. The flowering also differs slightly per variety.

Names:
Latin: Cynara cardunculus
Dutch: Kardoen
Also known as: Thistle-like relative of the artichoke
English: Cardoon