artichokes

have you ever had an artichoke? i think most of you have, but for those of you who haven't, here's some interesting food and prep facts about the funky looking vegetable named, artichoke.

artichokes are the unopened flowers and stems of a large thistle in the sunflower family. edible portions include the base of the green leaves, the tender inner heart, and the base of the choke itself. its peak season is early summer.

select artichokes that squeak when you squeeze them and feel heavy and solid. apparently brown streaks and scars are a good sign of delectable nutty flavor. you can store them in a plastic bag in the fridge for up to a week.

prep artichokes by plunging them in cold water to dislodge debris trapped between the leaves. then slice off the top quarter with a chef's knife and trim off the stem. using kitchen shears, snip off the spiny tips of the leaves. if you want to avoid discoloration, rub cut surfaces with lemon or keep in a bowl of cold water with lemon juice.

here, i boiled 2 prepped artichokes in about 3" of water to which i added salt, pepper, rosemary, white vinegar, and some olive oil. total time in the covered pot was about 30-40 min. they're done when you can pluck an inner leaf easily and the leaf is tender in the mouth. i then split one in half, drizzled some olive oil, and popped both of them into the toaster oven with the broil setting on and roasted the artichokes for another 10 min until the tips began to brown.

to eat an artichoke you pick off the outer leaves one at a time, dip it in the accompanying sauce (classics include mayonnaise-based variants) and place it between your teeth. biting gently, pull the leaf away from your teeth, scraping off the meat.

as you make your way to the inner leaves, you'll notice they get more and more tender. once you arrive at the choke, a collection of fuzzy leaves, use a spoon to scrape off the fuzz.

what's the left is the tender and extremely delicious heart. i just dip it into the sauce and bite off tasty chunks. mmm...

a cool fact about artichokes is that eating it causes a chemical reaction in the mouth that makes other foods or beverages taste sweeter due to a compound called cynarine. therefore you should serve them on their own or with neutral foods like pasta.

i always wonder who the heck came up with the idea to eat an ugly looking thistle bud. and how he or she figured out how to eat it...


*the above post contains paraphrasing or exact copy from david joachim's brilliant food tips and cooking tricks and the cook's thesaurus.