You say Cardo and immediately you say Bagna Cauda, and you are referred to one of the most authentic gastronomic traditions of Piedmontese cuisine, that of Astesana, Langhe, Roero, Monferrato, to what has been defined as a real collective ritual of life peasant, where we meet around an earthenware bowl placed in the center of the table where garlic, oil, anchovies are simmered and where the peasants dipped vegetables offered from the garden by collecting the oil with the bread. A specialty long rejected by the wealthier classes who considered it a rough food and unsuitable for a refined diet, especially due to the presence of garlic. And that, still today, scares those who don't digest garlic.
Say Cardo Gobbo, the ancient protagonist of this dish and you are immersed in the world of Cardaroli, a piece of history of the Belbo Valley. A story of one hundred years, of fourteen floods, of a tiring job, of those that are done only with the hands, in the cold, sometimes in the mud; of the real ones, to defend and to be proud of.
The thistles are born in the sandy soils between Nizza Monferrato, Incisa Scapaccino and Castelnuovo Belbo. They are sown in May, harvested in October and become "hunchbacked" thanks to a particular cultivation technique. They are not watered, fertilized or treated. In September, when they are already tall and lush, they are folded up and covered with earth. It is here that, trying to free themselves to find the light, they swell and bend, transforming into humpbacked thistles; it is here that the coasts lose all traces of chlorophyll, becoming very white and tender. After a month the blanching is complete: the thistles are dug up, the outer leaves and the damaged stems are removed with the purinetta (a long and thin billhook) and the heart is kept.
In the past, the work of Cardaioli was not highly regarded, they were few and poorly paid and the production of thistle, an extraordinary but increasingly rare product, was gradually disappearing. Fortunately, as has happened for so many products that represent the casket of Italian biodiversity, for some years now, the Monferrato Hunchback Cardoon of the Spadone variety has become part of the Slow Food Presidia, has been recognized as a gastronomic excellence to be protected and valorise, a rigorous specification has been drawn up which prohibits the use of chemical fertilizers, herbicides or chemical pesticides, has been included in the list of traditional Italian agri-food products by the Piedmont region. All this means new life and an insurance future for one of the protagonists of the great Piedmontese traditional cuisine.
First of all, it should be underlined that all cardoons are eaten cooked, only the hunchback cardoon of Nizza Monferrato due to its delicacy can be eaten raw, without the need for "scalding" to soften its fibres. This makes it extremely versatile for different preparations, it can be eaten raw, boiled, sautéed in butter and flavored with grated cheese or Gorgonzola and chopped walnuts; baked au gratin with béchamel or cheese, cooked like eggplant parmesan, sautéed in a pan with oil and anchovies; stewed with pork ribs.
Among other things, an element not to be overlooked, especially in these times, is a vegetable rich in potassium (essential for the normal functioning of the nervous system and muscle function as well as for maintaining regular blood pressure), iron, sodium, calcium and phosphorus. Among the vitamins there are some of the B group and precisely vitamins B1, B2 and B3. In addition to these we also find vitamin C. It has protective properties against the liver, antioxidant properties, tonic and decongestant properties. And that's not all: in the thistle we find in fact the caffeyl-quinnic acids, which, by stimulating the flow of bile and fats to and from the liver, have a choleretic function, and carry out a protective and regulating action on the liver functions and then the antioxidants a real panacea for our cells.
In short, we are dealing with a vegetable that has linked its name to the history of this portion of Piedmont that produces great gastronomic treasures. No wonder therefore if in Nizza Monferrato there is and is very active a Confraternity of bagna cauda and hunchback thistle. Finally, every year in November Asti celebrates its historic dish with a Bagna Cauda day to which thousands of gourmets flock
from everywhere to taste the specialty in the many restaurants that offer it in the dishes of their menus for more than a month.
