I am growing cardoon this

I am growing cardoon this year – I grew artichokes last year, but it is my understanding that cardoons get much larger, and the flowers or thistles are beautiful. In order to eat them, you have to blanch them. It is traditional in the piedmont region of Italy to eat them dipped in a hot bath (bagna cauda) of butter and anchovies, with a shaving of white truffle. Or, you can fry cardoons in batter.