It is made from cardoon thistle, raw sheep's milk and salt. Vegetables like cardoon and borage were traditionally widely used in soups. Cardoon stems are part of Lyonnaise cuisine (e.g. "gratin de cardons"). In Europe, cardoon is still cultivated in France (Provence, Savoie, Lyonnais), Spain, and Italy. The Romans called the vegetable "carduus" (hence the name "cardoon"). Cardoon has attracted recent attention as a possible source of biodiesel fuel.