I was very excited when I saw this Jurassic celery stalk at the store a few weeks ago.

It was my initiation with cardoons, a vegetable that looks like a giant celery stalk, but tastes like artichokes.

Now be careful with these, as they do have thorns, and they can be vicious. To clean them, take a peeling knife, remove the leaves and the thorns and discard them. With a vegetable peeler, remove the strings as you would those of celery.

Cut the cardoons in 5-7.5 cm lengths, then in little batons, and place them in a bowl filled with cold water and lemon juice to prevent discolouration. Some people cook them in acidulated, salted water, to which some flour was whisked in to prevent further discolouration during cooking, as you would with artichokes. You can do this if you wish. Discard all the leaves.

Cardoons can be prepared in several ways, added to soups and stews, cooked in tomato sauce, with sausage ragù or meat broth. They can be braised or roasted, and they are simply wonderful. I will cook with these again, for sure.

You can find them in Ottawa, at the Produce Depot, on Carling Avenue. I have also seen some at various Farm Boy locations.