Cardoons

Cardoons are related to Artichokes, but have much more in common, culinarily speaking, with Celery. 

To prepare Cardoons, you remove the leaves and thorns with a knife, then, almost always, blanche the cleaned stems in boiling salted acidulated  (with lemon juice or vinegar) water briefly and lay them on a baking sheet to cool. From this point you can dip them in tasty sauces, simmer them in soup, dip them into batter and make fritters, marinade them with other vegetables as a pickled salad, or make a gratin out of it.

Cardoons are at peak quality from

September 1 - November 27