In French-speaking Switzerland, particularly in the Geneva area, there is a Christmas tradition to serve a side dish made with a thorny thistle-like plant: Le cardon.

Cardons in Switzerland

Resembling and related to an artichoke, thorny cardons (“cardoons,” in English) generally arrived in Switzerland with the Protestants who were fleeing France during the 17th century. However, Patrimoine Culinaire Suisse also describes cardons being found among ancient Roman lake dwellings in Switzerland. Either way, this thistle-like vegetable has a long history in Switzerland.

To help reduce their bitterness, cardons are “bleached.” This involves covering the plants, which can grow to about 1.5-2 meters high, in order to prevent exposure to light. This process allows the cardons to become more white, rather than green.

In 2003, Cardon épineux genevois earned a AOP designation (appellation d’origine protégée) from the Swiss federal government. As such, all of the production of cardon bearing this designation must take place within the canton of Geneva. In Switzerland, it’s the only vegetable to have obtained the AOP designation.

Preparing Cardons

When I attended the Fête de la Tomate near the city of Geneva last May, one of the vendors had jars of cardons for sale. To buy cardons in a jar means you avoid a somewhat tedious process of preparing this tricky vegetable. With fresh cardons, first you have to remove all the thorny and fibrous parts of the stalks. Then, as if that isn’t enough, you need to parboil them for about 25 minutes before baking them.

Most importantly, you have to be careful not to let the cardons turn almost black in color (this happened to me!). To avoid this unappealing transition, as soon as you’ve trimmed and peeled the cardons, put the pieces in a bowl of water with lemon juice. I’ve seen other recipes that also call for boiling them in a mixture of milk and water. Either way, if you want to avoid the hassle, I recommend buying some jarred cardons. Please keep in mind though, it’s cheaper to buy it fresh and do it yourself!

Gratin de cardons—baked cardoons topped with béchamel sauce and grated Gruyère cheese—is a traditional side dish during the Christmas season in Geneva.

If you have any suggestions to share for cooking cardons, please leave a comment below. Thanks in advance for your help! Otherwise, here’s a recipe to get you started: Cardoon Gratin, from Saveur magazine.

Updated: December 29, 2022