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ARTICHOKES (a l'Huile)
Allow one artichoke, if small, for each person; trim them neatly, cutting off the ends of the leaves, and put them in a saucepan with plenty of boiling water, salt, a tiny bit of soda, and the juice of a lemon. Keep the lid of the saucepan on, and when the artichokes are done, put them on a dish to drain thoroughly and get cold. Serve with the following sauce in a boat. Beat up together in a basin for a few minutes six dessert-spoonfuls of salad oil, two ounces of tarragon vinegar, half a tea-spoonful of salt, the same quantity of French mustard, and pepper to taste, then add some finely chopped tarragon. This can, of course, be prepared beforehand, but it must be mixed well with a fork before being sent to table. Probable cost, 2d. to 4d. each.
A cold globe artichoke with a tarragon vinaigrette, and the method holds up almost unchanged. The two things worth attention are the pinch of soda and the unusually sharp proportions of the dressing.
- The sodaA "tiny bit" of bicarbonate of soda was commonly added to help keep the leaves green, particularly in hard water. It softens the leaves toward mush and dulls the flavour; the lemon juice already in the pot does the useful work. Modern practice generally omits it.
- Judging donenessNo time is given because it depends entirely on size: 25-40 minutes at a steady boil for a medium globe. An outer leaf should pull away with almost no resistance, and a knife should slide into the base without catching.
- Trimming and the chokeCutting off the leaf tips with scissors is what the original means by trimming neatly. The hairy choke is not removed here — it is left for each diner to scrape away once the leaves are eaten, which is why the artichoke is served whole.
- Pan and discolourationUse stainless steel or enamel. Artichokes can turn grey-black in cast iron or bare aluminium, where acid in the pot may aggravate the reaction with the metal. Keeping the lid on, as instructed, also helps them cook evenly since they float.
- The dressing measuresA dessertspoon is two teaspoons, so six of them is about four tablespoons of oil. Two ounces of tarragon vinegar is almost certainly fluid ounces, roughly a quarter cup — which makes this dressing sharper than oil-heavy, closer to 1:1. Mix it, taste it, and add oil if it bites too hard for you.
- French mustardNot English mustard powder. A smooth Dijon is the direct descendant and does the emulsifying that keeps the sauce together when whisked with a fork before serving.
- TarragonBoth the vinegar and the chopped herb should be French tarragon, not Russian, which has the look but little of the anise flavour. If you cannot get tarragon vinegar, steep a few bruised sprigs in white wine vinegar for a week.
- Yield and servingOne small artichoke per person, or half a large one. The quantity of sauce given dresses four to six; serve it in a boat as directed so each diner can dip leaves.
Cassell's places this among the plainest of the artichoke preparations — boiled, cooled, and sent to table with a vinaigrette rather than a hot sauce. The globe artichoke is generally said to have reached English kitchens from Italy in the sixteenth century, and by the late Victorian period it was a familiar if slightly genteel vegetable, grown in kitchen gardens and sold cheaply enough that Cassell's could quote twopence to fourpence each. The dressing is a plain French vinaigrette of the period, with the tarragon and the mustard both marking it as a borrowed idea; à l'huile simply means "with oil," distinguishing it from the butter-based sauces. The instruction that it can be made ahead and only needs re-mixing with a fork is a reminder that this is a dish designed for a cold course or a supper table, where the kitchen work was done well before anyone sat down.