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It’s not Christmas or New Year’s without cardoons. Traditionally there
must be a dish of cardoons on the holiday table. In December the
cardoon can be seen standing majestically tall in all the vegetable
gardens of and around Orvieto.
Once the “Cardo Gobbo” or cardoon was one of the obligatory offerings of the sharecropper to the farm bailiff or the landowner, together with the capon. The wrapped cardoon is so-called because it is carefully wrapped in paper or straw until it is ready to harvest to make it white and tender. This technique is peculiarly Umbrian since in other regions, such as Piedmont, the cardoon is mounded with earth. It is traditionally prepared “alla parmigiana” with various local variations of the recipe.
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