Prickly...But With A Good Heart

I have a lovely if small backyard garden. Sometimes I feel like I am taking care of growing children or a corral of pets as I set off on my daily routine of watering, primping, trimming and coaxing. I check to see that everyone is happy every day. Does anyone need a little extra love and care, maybe a fertilizer cookie or a stake to help support a floppy spine. I do this for all of my plant friends, but there is one in particular that caught my eye this morning: my artichoke plant.

I have a lone artichoke plant growing under my bedroom window in a raised bed. Since it is a perennial plant (comes back every year), I look forward to seeing it resurrect itself each spring. I watch and water, fertilize and measure. I note that it is half way up to my window, then to the windowsill, then half way up the window until it tops out a foot below the roofline. At times, I feel like I am measuring my child's growth on a door jam. It is amazing to me that every year it comes back with such regularity. In this crazy, topsy-turvy world it is one thing I can depend on. I looked at it this morning carefully and noticed that the beautiful buds had flowered showing their vibrant purple hair, which many native bees frequent delighting in the delicious nectar. It is like a graceful goddess rising up from the seemingly lifeless soil. It so caught my attention that I had to come in and give it some time. I wanted to find out more about this artful, thistle.       

The exact origin of the artichoke is not known, but it is thought that they originated in North Africa, where they still exist in their wild state. They were cultivated in Sicily during the Greek occupation (they called them kaktos) and then went through further cultivation for culinary enjoyment by the Romans (who called them carduus). The plant was enjoyed in Italy in the mid 1400's where it was brought from Florence to Naples and then from the Dutch on to England during the reign of King Henry VIII. They were brought to the United States, specifically to Louisiana during the 19th century by French immigrants and to California via Spanish immigrants.

The etymology of the name artichoke is interesting and somewhat obscure. Apparently, the word comes from the Arabic term, al kharshuf, while the Arabic term, Ardi Shoki means "ground thorny". This I learned on Wikipedia. When I looked the word up on the Online Etymology Dictionary, I found that the word we know comes from the Italian word, articiocco from the Arabic word, al hursufa or al kharshuf). Ciocco means stump and then we get choke (the inedible part that one might choke on I suppose), which transformed the word we now say from the old English, archecokk, hortichock and hartichoake. This is all probably more than we all needed to know, but it is fascinating in it's own right. I a liken the word to a piece of taffy all twisted and contorted until it is pulled flat and straight again...ARTICHOKE.

Artichokes are enjoyed all over the world, but are mostly grown in France, Italy and Spain. The United States grows 100% of its own fresh crop—and of that 80% are grown in Monterey County. Some of you might have been to the Artichoke Festival in Castroville, which calls itself the "Artichoke Center of the World."

Now to some of the good stuff...We eat the globe artichoke as a culinary delight but not all of it. The edible parts include the fleshy phyllaries (bracts subtending the flowers in the sunflower family) and the heart. In the United States we often boil or steam the bracts in salted water and then eat it with various dipping sauces including, aioli (garlic mayo), mayonnaise, hollandaise sauce, lemon or just plain butter. The choke is inedible, but at the center the heart is tender and delectable. You can also purchase artichokes steeped in olive oil and add them to salads, pizzas (like the Italians do), paellas (like the Spanish do) or invent your own recipe or sauce with these tasty thistles. A little known fact is that the stem is edible and quite tasty after the fibrous exterior is removed.

Artichokes are not just for bringing pleasure to our palates. I take artichoke leaf powder extract to help raise my HDL/LDL profile. This is good for my cholesterol. The active ingredient, Cynarin, is also a folk remedy digestive aid.

Since I only host one artichoke plant in my garden, I just watch her grow, flower and raise her majestic, purple head up in the early summer. I purchase artichokes for the tasting from our local food coop (Davis Food Co-op). I am including a recipe for aioli, my favorite dipping sauce.

Chipotle Aioli from Bon Apetit Magazine 2007

You can make your mayonnaise from scratch if you wish.

This recipe calls for your favorite, prepared mayo.

1 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons finely chopped chives

2 minced garlic cloves

2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

1 teaspoon chipotle chile powder or chipotle hot sauce

Salt and pepper

Preparation

Whisk mayonnaise with chives, garlic, lime juice, and chipotle chile powder or chipotle hot sauce to taste. Season with salt and pepper; chill until ready to serve.

Sources for this blog include:

WIkipedia

Etymology Online Dictionary

Epicurious.com