Cardoon

Stacked against a stucco wall, the shoulder-high bouquets cast shadows across the pale baked earth. Cardoons, their sharp-edged feathery leaves silver in the sun, await shoppers in the Casablanca market—but not for long. The bundles sell quickly, as I have seen in Italy, Spain, and France as well. (I hear that they have invaded the pampas and are cooked in regions of South America, but I don’t know firsthand.) I am fascinated to learn which foods are taken for granted—as is this thistle in its native Mediterranean.