Chef Juliette
Artichauts à la Barigoule
Artichauts à la Barigoule turns tender artichokes into little braising vessels, packed with mushrooms and fat bacon, wrapped, wine-braised, then dressed with only a spoonful of dark, concentrated sauce.
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Cardons à la Mornay
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 2054, Cardons à la Mornay, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Cardons à la Mornay turns the thistle’s pale ribs into a tender pyramid under ivory Mornay, then bronzes it in one swift movement before the sauce can split.
Side Dishes
French
Holiday
Comfort Food
Dinner Party
35 min
Active Time
1 hr cook•1 hr 35 min total
Yield4 servings
Cardons à la Mornay (cardoons glazed with cheese-enriched béchamel) teaches the difference between cooking and glazing. The cardoon must be completely tender, well drained, and still hot before the sauce touches it; the broiler will bronze the Mornay, but it won't soften a stubborn rib. That is the one true thing to carry to the stove.
The source is brigade shorthand: keep the same pyramid, replace the demi-glace (half-glaze sauce) with Mornay Sauce, glaze quickly, and send it. It assumed a vegetable station with cooked cardoons ready, a saucier on staff, a stockpot and demi-glace never far from the fire for related preparations, and a salamander fierce enough to color sauce in moments. Here, one bunch feeds four, the stock and demi-glace leave because this entry expressly replaces them, the saucier's finished Mornay Sauce is warmed in one small pan, and a fully heated household broiler stands in for the salamander. Bundling brigade quantities and holding them for service was scaffolding, so it goes. The tender simmer, low pyramid, Mornay coat, and immediate glaze are the dish, so they stay. One cook, one stove, one evening.
When it lands, pale cardoon ribs sit beneath an ivory sauce mottled butter-gold at the crown, with a faint artichoke bitterness against the cheese. Mornay left under heat can split, so the final relay must be continuous: sauce, coat, broiler, table. Have the broiler fully hot before you warm the sauce; that is the step that decides the gratin.
Cardoons belong especially to winter tables around Lyon and through neighboring Dauphiné, where generations have peeled and simmered the cultivated thistle for generous holiday dishes. Lyon's best-known family gratin often uses marrow, while cardons à la Mornay follows the grand-kitchen branch: the vegetable is built into a formal pyramid, coated with Mornay, and glazed at the last moment. Its celery-like appearance misleads; cardoon is a thistle, and patient cooking is what turns the stringy, bitter ribs tender and faintly artichoke-sweet.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
fresh cardoon
Quantity
1 large head, about 2½ pounds (1.1 kg)
leaves and tough base removed
cold water
Quantity
3 quarts (2.8 L / 2.8 kg)
plus more as needed
large lemon
Quantity
1, yielding about 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 45 g) juice
halved and squeezed, halves reserved
all-purpose flour
Quantity
3 tablespoons (45 ml / 24 g)
fine sea salt
Quantity
1 tablespoon (15 ml / 18 g)
unsalted butter
Quantity
1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g)
softened
finished Mornay Sauce
Quantity
2 cups (480 ml / about 500 g)
hot
cold heavy cream (optional)
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g)
for rescuing or loosening the sauce
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| fresh cardoonleaves and tough base removed | 1 large head, about 2½ pounds (1.1 kg) |
| cold waterplus more as needed | 3 quarts (2.8 L / 2.8 kg) |
| large lemonhalved and squeezed, halves reserved | 1, yielding about 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 45 g) juice |
| all-purpose flour | 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 24 g) |
| fine sea salt | 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 18 g) |
| unsalted buttersoftened | 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g) |
| finished Mornay Saucehot | 2 cups (480 ml / about 500 g) |
| cold heavy cream (optional)for rescuing or loosening the sauce | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •Wide 6-quart (5.7 L) pot
- •Y-peeler or sharp paring knife
- •Parchment paper
- •Small heavy saucepan and whisk
- •Broiler-safe shallow gratin dish, about 2 quarts (1.9 L)
- •Rimmed sheet pan
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the blanc
Make a blanc (a flour-and-lemon cooking liquor): whisk the flour with about 1 cup (240 ml) of the measured cold water until perfectly smooth. Pour it into a wide pot with the remaining water, lemon juice, squeezed lemon halves, and salt. Keep the blanc cold while you trim the cardoons so every cut piece can go straight into it; exposed cardoon darkens quickly.
If the flour forms a few lumps, pass the cold blanc through a sieve before adding the lemon. The liquor needn't be elegant, but it must coat the cardoons evenly. - 2
Trim the cardoons
Wear gloves if the ribs are prickly. Separate the stalks, discard the leaves and hollow or bruised ends, then pull away every tough string with a peeler or paring knife, working along both faces and the edges. Cut the cleaned ribs into pieces about 4 inches (10 cm) long and place each one immediately in the blanc. Lay a round of parchment directly over the surface to keep them submerged.
- 3
Simmer until tender
Bring the cardoons and blanc slowly to a bare simmer, then cook gently for 35 to 50 minutes. They are ready when a knife enters the thickest piece without a fibrous tug; the broiler supplies color, not further cooking, so don't leave the ribs firm at the center. If the knife still catches, return them to the liquor and keep simmering. Ça se rattrape now, before the sauce goes on.
Cardoons vary enormously in age and toughness. Trust the knife rather than the clock, and add a little hot water if the ribs are no longer covered. - 4
Ready the Mornay
Set an oven rack 5 to 6 inches (13 to 15 cm) below the broiler and heat the broiler on high for at least 10 minutes. While the cardoons remain hot in their liquor, reach for the finished Mornay Sauce and warm it over the lowest heat, stirring continuously, just until it falls from the spoon in a broad ribbon. Never let it boil. If it becomes grainy or beads with butter, stop: put 1 tablespoon of cold cream in a clean saucepan and whisk the sauce into it one spoonful at a time off the heat, returning it to the faintest heat only after it smooths. Use the remaining cream only if needed.
- 5
Build the pyramid
Drain the cardoons thoroughly, discard the lemon halves, and blot each rib dry; trapped cooking liquor would thin the Mornay and delay the glaze. Butter a shallow broiler-safe gratin dish. Arrange the longest pieces side by side, center a shorter layer above them, then finish with a final narrow row to make the source's low pyramid. Coat the cardoons immediately with all the hot Mornay Sauce, covering the crown and sides without stirring.
- 6
Glaze and serve
Set the dish on a rimmed sheet pan and place it beneath the fully heated broiler. Glaze for 2 to 4 minutes, watching without interruption, until the Mornay bubbles at the rim and takes irregular butter-gold and deep bronze spots across the crown. If one side colors first, turn the dish once. At the first sign of butter beading around the edge, pull it out and blot only the free fat with the corner of a paper towel; never broil longer in an attempt to dry it. Bring the gratin directly to the table while the sauce is still glossy. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Choose cardoons with firm, pale ribs and no blackened hollows. Large outer stalks are excellent once peeled properly; the real enemy is neglected stringing, not size.
- •When fresh cardoons are unavailable, use two 14-ounce (400 g) jars, about 18 to 20 ounces (510 to 570 g) drained. Rinse them, simmer for 5 minutes in fresh water to soften the preserving brine, then dry them thoroughly. The classical pantry solved seasons long before we did.
- •The Mornay must be hot enough to flow but never boiling. Make it according to its own preparation and keep it thick enough to coat the back of a spoon; a thin sauce slides off the pyramid and pools underneath.
- •A dry Jacquère from Savoie has enough freshness to cut through the Mornay while sitting naturally beside cardoons from the Lyon and Dauphiné table.
- •This gratin is best in its first moments. Refrigerate leftovers for up to 2 days and rewarm them loosely covered at 300°F (150°C); don't give the sauce a second hard broiling.
Advance Preparation
- •The cardoons can be trimmed and simmered up to 1 day ahead. Cool them in the blanc, refrigerate them covered in the liquor, then rewarm gently and drain and blot them thoroughly before assembling.
- •The finished Mornay Sauce may be prepared up to 4 hours ahead, covered directly on its surface, and chilled. Reheat it only once over very low heat, using the cold cream rescue if it tightens or begins to separate.
- •Do not assemble the gratin ahead. Once Mornay meets the cardoons, the dish must move directly beneath the broiler and then to the table.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 305g)
Calories
355 calories
Total Fat
24 g
Saturated Fat
15 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
8 g
Cholesterol
70 mg
Sodium
950 mg
Total Carbohydrates
23 g
Dietary Fiber
3 g
Sugars
9 g
Protein
12 g
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