The civilised thistle

I first encountered the wonders of the artichoke in my 20s. A flatmate who worked for a Greek hairdresser in Melbourne picked up many an exotic recipe from her boss’s wife but the major revelation for me was artichoke hearts dressed simply in vinegar and olive oil.

Later, my friend pointed out the purple-flowered plant that grew wild in outer Melbourne and was prized by Italian and Greek migrants alike. Strictly speaking, this was probably the artichoke thistle or cardoon, native to the Mediterranean and officially a