Artichokes

[Deleted]

After a long period of mostly ignoring artichokes, no matter how they are served, I have returned to buying fresh ones, which I very much enjoy boiling myself, letting them cool, preparing a sauce and savouring them leaf by leaf.

I prefer this much more than just eating artichoke hearts, even though I like the 'reward' of the heart after stripping all of the leaves with my teeth.

Nevertheless, my impression is that artichokes are probably considered to have a 'strange' taste, not necessarily very consensual.

Who else eats artichokes here and how do you do it?

(I have some artichokes boiling for later today as I write this. )

[bixaorellana]

If I could get my hands on some artichokes, I would eat them.

Many long years ago I worked for a man whose house was in the Carmel Valley, between Pacific Grove & Carmel, California. The house overlooked artichoke fields, & every year he & his family would collect the culls, artichokes not considered worthy of being taken to market. He used to give me big grocery sacks full of them, all much fresher & nicer than anything that could be bought in a store.

[Don Cuevas]

I like eating them, but not their preparation. My wife dislikes them, saying that they are not worth the bother of stripping the leaves.

[tod2]

The only artichokes I have eaten are the 'Globe' variety - even grew them in my veg garden but left them to flower. What a beautigul thistle-like flower they have!

To eat them, I boiled them in salt water (whole). When cool to handle I start stripping the leaves one by one, dipping each end(the part torn away from the stem) into garlic butter or lemon butter and eating the very small succulent end of the leaf.
When this process is complete you have to remove the 'choke' of spiny inner fibres and then enjoy the little cup that left. So good!

Kerouac - please may I have YOUR sauce recipe?

[Deleted]

I make a vinaigrette purposely clogged full of garlic, onion and parsley bits. I can't imagine eating them with butter, probably because they are usually eaten cold in France.

[fumobici]

I love artichokes. There are so many types and preparations. I generally do it like my mother did, simply steam them and eat them with garlicked butter or mayo. The Roman/Jewish fried version is an interesting variation and well worth trying as well.

[hwinpp]

I do them exactly as you describe.

[mockchoc]

I love them with a friends walnut alliade but like them even plain but then I like eating nibbling away at picky foods and can hardly think of a vegetable I don't like. I even have been known to take the watermelon seeds out of my husbands melon or shelling prawns or crabs for loved ones even though I adore but can't eat them anymore

[auntieannie]

I really enjoy globe artichokes and will have to see if I can find some at the greengrocer's. Unfortunately, the "Jerusalem artichoke" aka fartichoke is more common here than the marvel we're talking about.

I personally steam the globe artichoke and enjoy them as warm as my fingers can take, dipping the succulent end in mayonnaise or mousseline sauce.