Tuscan Artichokes in the Spring

It's springtime and in Tuscany that means artichokes!  While we've had artichokes all winter coming up from the south, it isn't until now that the "nostrale", or "ours", come into season and fill the market.

The artichoke is the bud of the flower of a variety of thistle.  If allowed to remain on the plant, it will open up like a daisy, with the choke forming a beautiful purple center.  Most of the flower is inedible fiber and must be thrown away, leaving only the heart and inner leaves as edible.  While it seems like a daunting task to clean an artichoke, it's actually very easy once you've reconciled yourself to throwing most of the plant away!

Artichokes are very astringent and good for cleansing the liver, which in Eastern medicine is done in the spring, corresponding with artichoke season.  When the artichokes are fresh, the best way to eat them is raw in artichoke salads made with thinly sliced artichoke, lemon, parsley, shavings of parmigiano and extra virgin olive oil generously drizzled over all.    The most important aspect of this dish is that the artichoke be as fresh as possible, with no choke in the middle.  In Tuscany, we have special varieties that are choke-less, which are used for pinzimonio (dipped raw in extra virgin olive oil) and for the raw salad mentioned above.   Use the freshest artichokes you can find, which are very firm and hard, with no blemishes on the leaves. 

 Artichokes are also great sautéed with lemon, garlic and olive oil, and served as a side to any chicken or rabbit dish, and my cookbook has some wonderful recipes for pasta sauce and roasted artichokes with chicken and lemon.

How to Clean an Artichoke:

You'll need a serrated knife, a small paring knife, a cutting board, and a bowl containing water and the juice of half a lemon.   Holding the stem end of the artichoke, use a serrated knife to cut the top off about halfway between top and stem.  Pull off and discard all the outside leaves, until you get down to the leaves that are yellow and pale green instead of dark green.  You can test if you've gone down far enough by eating one of the leaves, which should be edible.  Cut the bud in half, scrape out the choke, and pull out any inside leaves that are spikey and sharp, as these will also be inedible.  Peel and slice the stem, this is good to eat.  Put all the pieces in the lemon water to keep them from turning brown.