The cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) is a tall, thistle-like Mediterranean plant grown not for its flower bud, like the globe artichoke, but for its broad, silvery, celery-like leaf stalks. The flattened ribs are blanched in the field to draw out their natural bitterness, then trimmed of strings and spines and cooked tender, where they taste of artichoke crossed with celery — gently nutty, faintly bitter and clean. It is a cold-weather vegetable of Italy, Spain and southern France.