A thorny matter

Art Culinaire, Spring, 2005

"I NOWHERE SAW THE CARDOON SOUTH OF THE SALADO; BUT IT IS PROBABLE THAT
IN PROPORTION AS THAT COUNTRY BECOMES INHABITED, THE CARDOON WILL EXTEND
ITS LIMITS. THE CASE IS DIFFERENT WITH THE GIANT THISTLE (WITH
VARIEGATED LEAVES) OF THE PAMPAS, FOR I MET WITH IT IN THE VALLEY OF THE
SAUCE."
Charles Darwin, from The Voyage of the Beagle (1909)

THE "SAUCE" TO WHICH DARWIN REFERS, IN CHRONICLING HIS JOURNEY THROUGH Argentina, is not the yolk and butter-based variety we've come to associate with artichokes, but rather the Sauce Grande stream that he and his guides followed on their exploratory journey to Buenos Aires. That Darwin encountered (and recognized) the cardoon on his way through South America challenges our assumptions about the artichoke's singular place among the edible thistles (as we ourselves asserted in AC Issue 35). In fact, there are at least a half-dozen edible members of the Asteraceae family of plants in common use, and likely many more available to the experienced wild forager.

Without a doubt, artichokes (Cynara scolymus) and, to a lesser extent, cardoons (Cynara cardunculus) dominate the category. In general, the botanic histories of the artichoke and the cardoon are inextricably linked, and often provide more confusion than clarity. Early texts offer evidence of their cultivation in Sicily, Tunisia (known then as Carthage), Greece, Rome, Granada and North Africa. One school of thought maintains that cardoons and artichokes are, and always have been, two distinct species. Other taxonomists insist that the wild artichoke gave rise to the cultivated cardoon, while still others feel it was the cardoon that begat the artichoke.

Historian and journalist Clifford A. Wright, armed with ample evidence, backs the latter theory. In a 1996 article entitled "Did the Ancients Know the Artichoke? A Review of the Evidence" Wright states: "The popularity of artichokes as a food has led popular food writers to seek its roots in the classical world in what I believe is a classic form of the neo-classicist fallacy." He continues that, since authoring the paper, he has had communication with Professore Domenico Pigone of the CNR Plant Genetics in Bari, which has given rise to a new question: is it possible that the cultivated artichoke long ago "escaped" into the wild, giving rise to the wild artichoke? Wright adds that the theory is "a bit backward, but evidenced in nature."

When asked to speculate why it is that historians have seized upon the artichoke and not the cardoon as a culinary signifier of the ancient Greco-Roman world, Wright replies, "The existing iconograph[ies] ... all depict a plant that is obviously a thistle, but there is no way anyone can determine what plant it is, as there are very many thistles. I suspect that historians have latched onto the artichoke because they are, after all, not botanists and the depictions look like the plant they are most familiar with, namely the artichoke. This occurs elsewhere; for example, historians often refer to ancient depictions of certain sea animals as 'squid' when close observation indicates that it may be a cuttlefish."

IN THE UNITED STATES, THE cultivated Green Globe artichoke dominates the field and the plate. Dale Huss, head of artichoke production for Ocean Mist Farms, based in Castroville, CA, says that cardoons make up less than one percent of his crops. "Not a lot of folks understand how to eat cardoons, really only our Italian and Spanish customers. But I've had Italians stop out in the field and eat that succulent part of the stem, just peel it with a knife and eat it on the spot." Some evidence suggests that Spanish cheesemakers historically used the extract of dried cardoon flowers as a milk curdling agent, but its more common use has always been as a vegetable. Elizabeth Schneider, in Uncommon Fruits and Vegetables: a Commonsense Guide (Harper & Row 1986), laments, "How sad that this lovely, subtle food has fallen out of favor except in its native Mediterranean region," and goes on to note that it actually had a place at American tables from colonial times until the early part of the 20th century.

artichokes are Ocean Mist's signature product, and they account for 20% of its crops, with lettuces, spinach, cauliflower, broccoli, celery, fennel, rapini and herbs rounding out their offerings. Huss reports that in the last 10 years there have been a number of changes in the way that the company does business, including a shift from shed packing to field packing, which facilitates faster cooling of the product, reduces impact-induced injury and adds several days to its shelf life. The company has also reduced its total area of farmed land, from a peak of roughly 13,000 acres, to the current 5,000 or so acres. He is quick to add, however, that, "Overall volume has stayed consistent. Because of increased input costs, we lost some smaller growers as they formed partnerships, and in some cases bought each other out. There's been a good deal of consolidation, but there are still several growers involved." Ocean Mist is currently investigating ways to individually brand each artichoke, both as a marketing tool and to combat a growing problem: artichoke theft. A spate of attacks in southwestern France was reported in spring 2004, and Huss concurs, "It's a huge problem for us. They come in the middle of the night, and it seems like people who know how to cut an artichoke. People who don't know what they're doing tend to break it off or cut at weird angles." A single night's theft can cost the company thousands of dollars. Huss has had several meetings with local authorities, and is also investigating the use of private security firms to help protect the crop. Until the chokes are individually branded, there is no way to prove that the 'independent farmer' selling a bushel at a roadside stand is peddling stolen goods. Says Huss, "The best way to prevent theft is to catch the thieves, but you've gotta catch them in the act. People think if something is growing along the side of the road, it's fine to take a few home for supper, but to us, it's still theft."