The thistle is a perennial herbaceous plant in nature, annual in cultivation that reaches maturity in winter. It is similar in shape to celery, but belonging to the artichoke family, it is rather hard and bitter in taste, therefore it is subjected to bleaching and therefore the plants are grown in the absence of light. Frost is essential, in fact, after a frost, the texture of the thistle becomes better and more tender.
When buying thistles, choose light-colored plants, closed and heavy, free from spots, with crisp, wide ribs. Both cleaning and cooking the thistle take a long time. It is a very long and laborious operation, the hardest and most stringy external ribs must be eliminated. The largest leaves must be discarded, while the tender leaves that develop on the central part of the head can be consumed.
Let’s learn how to prepare them
How to choose the thistle
When buying thistle, to be sure you choose it fresh, you need to check that the stems are white and compact. If they have green spots along the stems they start to be hard and bitter.
How to cook thistle
To be cooked and used in your favorite recipes, the thistle must first be boiled in boiling water until it becomes tender. The thistle cooking is quite long.
How to store the thistle
To preserve the thistle the best solution is to clean and blanch it, in this way it can be kept in the refrigerator for a couple of days closed in a closed glass container.
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