Artichoke

A flower you don’t let bloom

The edible artichoke is the immature flower bud of a giant thistle. If left unharvested, the bud opens into a dramatic purple-blue flower the size of a fist, much loved by bees but inedible by then. Commercial harvest catches the bud at the right tightly-closed stage; gardeners who miss the window get a beautiful flower instead of dinner.

The stalks of the closely related cardoon (the same species in its undomesticated form) are eaten the way celery is — in this plant, humans have cultivated two different parts.

Eating an artichoke

The artichoke is unusually involved as a vegetable to eat:

1. Steam or boil the whole artichoke for 30–45 minutes until a leaf pulls easily from the base.
2. Pull off individual leaves, dip the fleshy base in butter or vinaigrette, scrape the tender flesh off with your teeth.
3. Discard the fibrous upper part of each leaf.
4. Once the leaves are gone, scoop out and discard the choke — the thistle’s hairy interior.
5. Eat the heart — the tender base, the most-prized part.

The procedure is communal, slow, and somewhat indulgent. Italians have built whole rituals around it.

A taste-altering compound

Artichokes contain cynarin, a compound that temporarily blocks the bitter and sour taste receptors. Foods or wines tasted immediately after eating artichoke seem unusually sweet — a common reason wine pairings can be tricky with this vegetable.

The same effect makes water taste sweet after a few bites of artichoke. Try it: it’s striking.

A long-distance crop

Almost all U.S. artichokes are grown in Castroville, California — a small coastal town that has called itself “the Artichoke Center of the World” since the 1920s, when Italian immigrants planted commercial fields. The cool foggy climate is ideal: too hot and the buds open before harvest. Marilyn Monroe was crowned California’s first Artichoke Queen in 1948.

Italy is the world’s largest producer; the Italian regions of Puglia and Sicily produce most of the European supply. Italy and France between them produce twice the volume of the U.S.

Carciofi alla giudia

The Roman Jewish quarter’s most famous dish is deep-fried whole artichoke — carciofi alla giudia. The artichoke is trimmed of its outer leaves, opened into a flower shape, and deep-fried twice in olive oil. The result has crispy outer leaves and a tender heart, eaten whole. It’s been served in the Roman ghetto for at least 500 years.