how to prepare and eat an artichoke
As a young girl I learnt to eat artichokes in the South of France.
Susan, a mentor and older German woman in the village, taught me to peel the leaves one by one, dip them in rich olive oil mixed with lemon and salt, and scrape the meat off into my mouth.
At first I would just dip the leaves in the sauce and suck on them. And then I discovered how to scrape the meat off the ends and the pleasure was all mine.
To this day I love to slowly peel an artichoke, all the way anticipating the heart, the best part of the artichoke that awaits you at the end.
I have taught many people how to prepare and eat an artichoke and my friend asked me just the other day if I could show her.
We bought a big beautiful artichoke from the market, but we never had the time to prepare it together.
Tonight I prepared the artichoke for myself and thought I would post a little picture tutorial so she would still know how.
I hope this is helpful to you as well!
1. First, fill a pot about 1/4 of the way with water. Put your artichoke inside and cover. Steam for about 30-45 minutes depending on the size, until the air is aromatic, the leaves are opening up and the insides look soft. You can test a leaf if you have to.
2. Set your artichoke on a plate and grab a big empty bowl for your leaves. Slowly work your way into the artichoke. Enjoy plain or with a simple vinaigrette (I usually use olive oil, salt and lemon).
3. When you peel off a leaf, dip it in your sauce (or not) and scrape the plump, meaty end into your mouth. Mmm. Having fun yet?
4. Work your way into the artichoke until the leaves are too small and fragile to find meat on them. You can pull these off and throw them in your bowl.
5. Now you will see a big hairy mess blocking you from the heart of the artichoke. This is called the choke. This is because these little hairy bits are easy to choke on if you leave them on! Take the choke off carefully with a knife without digging too deep into the heart.
6. This is the best part. The whole heart is yours to eat and enjoy, or share if you like. I like it plain, dipped in vinaigrette, or on top of a lovely salad.
Bon appetit!
September 13th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
I do love my veggies, but I haven’t tried artichoke yet…but your post sure makes me wanna buy one right now! Thanks for sharing!
September 13th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Crazy! I keep adding corn in my salads and I put in carrots the other day too, and yesterday I was thinking about putting in artichoke hearts. Thank you for sharing
September 13th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
We had it for dinner with Susan tonight!
September 13th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
LOVE IT!! This is been a fav since I was little. So glad you are back in Paris…I truly loved it there, back last October!!
Thanks again for all the great tips…
September 14th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Is it better cold or hot? I want to try….
September 14th, 2009 at 8:36 pm
Much better hot!!
September 24th, 2009 at 9:44 am
Hi Gillian,
I LOVE to read about your travels and food adventures. Your blog is fantastic!
I haven’t been to Paris… yet, but one day I will. I’ll wait for your book to come out
I thought I would share my dipping sauce for articokes. I looove my articoke!
I roast garlic for about 1 hour in the oven. Smash the cooked garlic in a bowl with a fork, add a good chunk of butter (or oil would work too), throw back in the oven to melt together. Et voila! A tasty dip for leaves and the choke.
September 24th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Jenny- Roasted garlic? You found the key to my heart! The butter helps too..I must try this! Thank you! And let me know when you make it to Paris.