Wild Burdock in North America is Arctium minus small and more bitter than its Asian relative Arctium lappa. Especially those cultivars which have been specifically as garden plants. Very young shoots with small roots may be pulled and cooked together like baby beets and greens. Leaves eating raw in salads or tender young stems and leaves can be cooked like spinach or asparagus. The crisp root, when very young, can be peeled and eaten raw like radish but the mature root should be peeled, and cooked in soups and stir fries; similar taste to Jerusalem artichokes or parsnips but sweetly pungent.