The Geneva cardoon: a vegetable with spine

The Christmas holidays mark the brief moment when Geneva’s spiny-leaved cardoon steps into the spotlight. Beyond its traditional growing area, however, the vegetable remains little known, despite its historical and gastronomic significance. Is there such a thing as a typical Swiss Christmas dish? A hard question, given the diversity of culinary traditions and the fact that the globalised option of turkey has become standard in Switzerland, too. In Geneva, however, the answer is obvious: cardoon is an intrinsic part of the festive season. In Protestant refugees’ luggage Native to the Mediterranean basin, the cardoon was familiar to the Greeks and Romans, who considered it a luxury. The presence of ancient varieties has even been documented in Swiss Neolithic sites. Studies have shown that cardoon was being eaten in Geneva in the 16th century. The origin of the variety under discussion here, the cardon épineux argenté de Plainpalais (silver spiny cardoon of Plainpalais), is more recent.