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French or Globe Artichokes
This artichoke is a plant resembling a thistle, with a large scaly head like the cone of a pine. The receptacle underneath and the lower part of the leaves composing the head are. the edible parts. It is an excellent and delicate vegetable. Strip off the coarse outer leaves and cut the stalks off about an inch from the bottom, wash well in plenty of cold water, then throw them in boiling water, add a teaspoonful of salt and boil slowly until the outer leaves are very tender, and can be pulled out easily; take them from the fire and stand carefully upside down in a flat colander or plate to drain. When ready to serve, arrange them in a circle upon a hot dish, the tops up, and pour over them sauce Hollandaise, or the artichokes may be served undressed, and the sauce served in individual dishes, thus allowing each one to dip the leaves of the artichoke into the sauce before eating.
A straightforward boiled artichoke, and the instructions still hold. The only things missing are times, quantities and a word about the parts that must not be eaten.
- TimingBoil 25 to 45 minutes depending on size — a large globe artichoke takes the better part of an hour. The test given is the right one: an outer leaf should pull away with almost no resistance, and a knife should slide into the base easily.
- TrimmingBeyond stripping the coarse outer leaves, snip the sharp tips off the remaining ones with scissors and rub the cut stalk with lemon. Cut surfaces brown within minutes.
- DiscolorationArtichokes blacken in contact with iron and aluminium. Use a stainless or enamelled pan, and add a squeeze of lemon or a splash of vinegar to the water along with the salt.
- SaltA teaspoonful of salt is right for a small pan but thin for the large quantity of water several artichokes need. Salt as you would pasta water and the leaves come out seasoned.
- The chokeThe recipe names the receptacle as edible but does not mention that the fibrous choke sitting on it must be scraped away first. Diners can do it themselves once the leaves are gone, or you can spoon it out after draining.
- DrainingUpside down and thoroughly, as directed. Water trapped between the leaves will dilute the hollandaise and turn a hot dish tepid.
- ServingOne artichoke per person, with a spare plate for discarded leaves. Hollandaise is traditional; melted butter with lemon, or a sharp vinaigrette, both work and neither will break on you.
- Do aheadBoiled artichokes are good cold, which is presumably why they are in a hot-weather book. Cook in the morning, drain, refrigerate, and serve at room temperature with the sauce alongside.
The globe artichoke is an edible thistle, Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus, cultivated around the Mediterranean since at least the medieval period and generally traced to selection from the wild cardoon. This recipe opens with the plant rather than the pot, as a number of nineteenth-century American books do, which suggests the vegetable was still unfamiliar to many readers; it was often called "French artichoke" to distinguish it from the Jerusalem artichoke, a sunflower tuber of an entirely different genus. Boiled artichokes can be cooked early, drained, and served cold or barely warm with a sauce, and eating them leaf by leaf at the table makes a slow, undemanding course in the heat.