BOTANICAL NAME: Cynara cardunculus
FAMILY: Asteraceae
Cardoons are first cousins to the artichoke. The English name, like its French equivalent cardon, derives from the old Latin name cardunculus, which means “little thistle.” This makes better sense when we consider that cordoons are simply thistles eaten when young and tender. The Cardon de Tours (pronounced car-DOHN deh TOOR) is perhaps one of the most famous of all the historical varieties. Certainly it is among one of the most ornamental. Its stems, young leaves, and even its carrotlike root are endowed with a flavor that is unique. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the English were especially fond of this vegetable, at least in genteel circles that advocated Continental cuisine. For example, in the 1685 edition of Robert May’s Accomplisht Cook there is a delightful recipe for minced boiled capon stuffed back into its own skin and ornamented (“finely strewed”) with pieces of poached cardoon. This is not peasant fare.
Since the eighteenth century, the French and Italians have taken a special interest in the cultivation of cardoons and as a result, they have managed to develop a number of interesting varieties. The most common is Plein Blanc with long white stems and leaves; it is grown by many gardeners because it blanches readily. Rouge d’Alger was perfected in Algeria, but plants with similar red stems may be found in Renaissance paintings, so this beautiful coloration has existed for a long time. The red tint does not cook out unless a strong acid is added to the stock. The Vert de Vaulx is notable for its delicate, almost fern-like leaves and thus makes an excellent ornamental. The same may be said of Epineux Argenté, a Swiss variety with numerous silvery leaves that are highly indented and more thornless than most. It is also recommended for its flavor. The Gigante di Romagna of Italy is entirely thornless but requires a mild winter, for it is best when harvested in December.
This brings me to the Cardon de Tours, the oldest of the varieties known in France and certainly the one most similar to the cardoon cooked by Robert May. This is the cardoon of Thomas Jefferson’s presidential table, since Jefferson grew it at Monticello. Even though Jefferson was a fancier of French cookery and fond of the way the French employed cardoons in recipes, he was not the first American to grow the Tours cardoon. It was planted in colonial America as early as the 1660s and appeared in kitchen gardens in New Orleans, Charleston, and Philadelphia early in the eighteenth century because it was a “thing of fashion.”
This prickly cardoon is best depicted (and discussed in some detail) in Vilmorin-Andrieux’s classic The Vegetable Garden because even in the 1880s it was still preferred above all others by French chefs. The reason is simple: its flavor had not been surpassed. Because it is smaller and more thickly stemmed than the improved varieties, it is less apt to become hollow or pithy during dry spells. The Tours cardoon evolved from a landrace into its cultivated form during the early seventeenth century; that is, it was selected from wild plants and gradually improved by market gardeners. With so many ornamental cardoons now available, its thorny, rustic habit has more in common with its wild ancestors than with the modern varieties, but this is also the secret of its flavor. Furthermore, it is one of the hardiest cardoons I have grown, for it overwinters in my Pennsylvania garden when covered with straw. In the South it should be as easy to grow as a thistle.
This is the cardoon of Thomas Jefferson’s presidential table, since Jefferson grew it at Monticello.
Thomas Jefferson’s mode of preparing cardoons has not survived, although a Paris restaurant menu dating from 1808 listed cardoons as entremets (side dishes) served in béchamel sauce, fried in butter, served with Parmesan cheese, or done up in the Spanish style with plenty of lemons—all possibilities for his White House table. The Spanish are particularly agile with cardoon recipes, as the French will readily admit. I discovered the most tantalizing cardoon dishes in the 1916 cookbook classic of Spanish chef Manuel Puga y Parga (1874–1916), La cocina practica. There is a cardos al jugo (poached, sautéed stems in lemon sauce), cardos ensalada (cardoon salad with garlic and peppers), cardos en salsa blanca (poached cardoons in white sauce—a dish also favored by the English), and the most delicious of all, cardos en espeso de nueces (poached cardoons with walnut sauce). If a little walnut oil or hazelnut oil is sprinkled over cardoons, it will bring out a rich, almost trufflelike flavor that is a great complement to full-bodied red wines.