#Curios: Taking the Mystery out of the Artichoke

"Taking the Mystery out of the Artichoke"; npr.com.

April 23, 2008

By Susan Russo

Eating an artichoke is actually easier than it looks. Start by plucking a leaf from the outer part of the artichoke. Grasp the leaf with two hands, and place it flesh side down against your bottom teeth. Biting down with your upper teeth, gently pull the leaf away from your mouth, scraping off the creamy artichoke flesh at the bottom of the leaf. Finally, discard what remains of the leaf. If the flesh doesn't scrape off easily, then it probably isn't cooked enough. (Trust me, no amount of chewing will help.)

Continue plucking leaves, working your way to the tender center. Just before reaching the delectable heart, you may encounter some thin, purple-tipped, prickly leaves (though if properly prepared, they should already have been removed). Pluck and discard them, as they are not edible.

Then get ready for the most glorious part of the artichoke — the heart, the caviar of vegetables. Located at the bottom of the artichoke, the heart has a nutty, earthy flavor and thick, custard-like consistency. It needs no stuffing, no dips. Using a fork and knife, simply slice the heart thinly and savor every mouthful. My grandmother warned us never to trust anybody who throws away the heart.

Native to the Mediterranean, the artichoke is actually the edible flower bud of a thistle plant in the sunflower family. In fact, if left to develop, the artichoke will blossom into an extraordinary, spiky, brilliant purple flower.

Artichokes are one of the oldest know foods, dating to antiquity. According to legend, when Zeus spotted Cynara, a beautiful young mortal, he transformed her into a goddess. Homesick, Cynara sneaked back into the mortal world. When Zeus discovered her deception, he turned her into an artichoke. The artichoke's scientific name, Cynara scolymus, reflects this story.

Historians believe that artichokes were cultivated by North African Moors beginning about 800 A.D., and that the Saracens, another Arab group, introduced artichokes to Italy. This may explain how the Arabic al-qarshuf — meaning "thistle" — became articiocco in Italian and eventually "artichoke" in English.