The Cardo Gobbo or hunched cardoon of Nizza Monferrato, belonging to the Spadone variety, is about 80 cm tall. The leaves are rather large with white veins and generally whole, and typical shape which distinguishes it from the other cultivars. The ribs are white, crisp and sweet. The blanching of the Nizza Monferrato cardoon is a typical and burdensome operation which occurs exclusively underground. The final product is white, due to the loss of chlorophyll; the leafy ribs assume the characteristic hunch and on losing most of the fibrosity become crunchy and sweet also as it loses its bitter substances.
Production Area
The production area covers Nizza Monferrato and the surrounding municipalities in the Province of Asti.
How it is made
Sowing is done mechanically or manually in the field towards mid-May. Herbicides are not used to control weed growth.
The blanching of the Nizza Monferrato hunchback cardoon is done exclusively underground, at least 20 days before the harvest, when the plants have to be tied in bunches and placed in a furrow at the side of the row and recovered with a layer of soil. The final product is white due to the loss of chlorophyll and the leaf ribs take on a characteristic hump and lose a great part of their fibrosity.
The cardoon harvest starts during the first ten days of October and is done manually.
History
In the 1700s the "Chef from Piedmont" mentioned the cardoon in a classical recipe: "boil the oil, garlic, salt and then dissolve some anchovies, and in this hot boiling sauce, soak the cardoon." This boiled sauce is none other than the "bagna caoda," the signature dish of Piedmont gastronomy. Surely this dish was already known in the 1800s; the Hunchback cardoon of Nizza Monferrato spread in the sandy soil of Belbo in the beginning of the 1900s. The senior cardoon farmers possess a certificate of participation in the Horticulture and Fruit Farming Expo of Casale Monferrato in the 1920s and 1930s.
Interesting features
If eaten raw and dipped in oil, the cardoons should be cleaned carefully by removing the filaments and immersing them in water with a few drops of lemon to prevent the cardoon from getting dark. If cooked, while boiling some lemon should be added to the water to prevent it from becoming bluish.
The cardoons from Nizza Monferrato are excellent eaten raw with bagna cauda sauce.
