March 3rd, 2010
Caponata di Carciofi
Mention the word Caponata and I think most Italians will begin to salivate.
Firstly, the name immediately evokes a sense the south and Sicily in particular. Caponata is traditionally a large combination of ingredients tossed together and the most traditional of all is the Caponata di Melanzane, or Aubergine Caponata, Eggplant Caponata. But Sicilians certainly boast some of the best artichokes and most interesting artichoke dishes in Italy and they can easily replace the aubergine with the addition of tomato, onion, olives and capers, to make the artichoke equivalent of the traditional Caponata.
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February 24th, 2010
Lasagne ai Carciofi
Making pasta is something that I took for granted as a child. In fact I almost found it a chore to help my mother as she rolled the pasta through the machine, sheet after sheet. It never seemed to stop because if you’re making pasta, you don’t just make some for one meal, but enough for a few dozen meals. And if you’re like my mum, you also make enough for the neighbours and to give to friends so the quantities were out of proportion for a young child.
I seem to remember it would always be on a Saturday afternoon that the table in the spare room would be cleared and dusted with flour. Wet cloths covered freshly kneaded pasta dough while it rested. I was called in to help when it came to the rolling, cutting and hanging. Broomsticks would be placed to rest horizontally between the table and chairs so the freshly cut pasta could be hung to dry. The one thing I do remember enjoying, apart from eating the pasta, was making my own pasta shapes from left over scraps of dough, a sort of maltalgliati.
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February 17th, 2010
Totani Ripieni ai Carciofi
The first time I heard about calamari with artichokes I thought it was a little strange. For me there didn’t seem to be a natural affinity between coastal food and this vegetable. Being predominantly surrounded by water and having artichokes growing in most of the country, this natural affinity is something I hadn’t seen until I went to the hilltop town of Perinaldo in Liguria.
This dish comes from Liguria and is the perfect light starter or by bumping up the portion size, could make a main meal. It goes well served with a fluffy, long grain rice. I played around with the styling of this dish for this post so you can choose whatever you feel appropriate.
Perinaldo boasts one of the only two Slowfood listed species of artichokes in Italy and most of the town has sea views so it makes sense that they have a traditional dish with seafood and artichokes. I will post some photos and write a little more about Perinaldo and the artichoke celebration/sagra I visited there, so stay tuned.
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February 10th, 2010
Torta Rustica di Carciofi e Ricotta
I’m going to make a sweeping generalisation here and say that like most Italian migrants, I grew up with a wood fired oven in my parent’s backyard. Certainly, many of the people from the same villages as my family baked their own bread and would occasionally bring some around to our place as a little gift. It was always interesting to try bread made by other hands as it could be lighter, saltier, more dense, crispier or darker than the bread my parents would usually turn out.
Regular bread making would always happen in the shed at the very back of the garden. Most of the hard work of mixing and kneading by hand happened in the small hours of the morning while I was tucked away in bed. This was a good time to get the oven up to temperature, making most of the smoke before neighbours woke up and began hanging their washing out. By the time I was up and about there would be at least twenty loaves already baked and the neighbours would have already been handed a couple of loaves over the fence by my folks.
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February 5th, 2010
Sarde al Forno Con Carciofi
In an earlier post I mentioned a recent trip to Puglia in southern Italy where I met Aldo in his beautiful trattoria. He invited me back to have a night in his restaurant and celebrate with a full selection of artichoke dishes on his menu. I’m going to be heading down there in late April to help him out in the kitchen for a couple of days and try to record as many recipes as he throws at me.
This recipe comes from Puglia known for its its rich and fertile agricultural terrain, producing the largest amount of olive oil and vegetables (including artichokes) in Italy. It is also blessed with some of the most stunning and unspoiled coastline remaining in the country and so boasts a healthy presence of fish and seafood on menus but I’m not sure that this dish is in Aldo’s repertoire as he is not a coastal dweller.
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January 29th, 2010
Farinata ai Carciofi
There are somethings that easily get lost in translation so it’s better not to attempt to translate farinata. It is called different things in different places, such as Cecina or Torta di ceci in Tuscany but I will refer to it as Farinata as it is most widespread in Liguria.
Farina is the Italian word for flour, and in this case it’s chickpea flour. Farinata closely resembles pizza and is usually eaten as stand up, casual finger food.
I first saw farinata on the Italian coastal stretch of the Cinque Terre in Liguria and it was love at first sight. You can walk between the five coastal towns and stop off for a serve of farinata at each if you really felt like it. This kind of behaviour might be a bit obsessive but it has been known to be done, just so one knows where to find one’s most preferred farinata on one’s next visit to Cinque Terre. (For my money it’s the upper most shop on the hill in Rio Maggiore).
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January 22nd, 2010
Crespelle di Saraceno con Crema di Patate e Carciofi
Location: Florence.
Time: 9pm.
Weather: Cold, wet and windy.
Mood: Tired and hungry.
Thoughts: Eat anywhere that is open.
In the Santa Croce area of Florence there are plenty of restaurants, bars and caffés to choose from but two days before Christmas, lots of them have sealed shutters making options pretty limited. The streets were vacant and quiet, and on a cold wet night all you really want to do is be inside as cozy as possible. Gauging a restaurant by peering through its window is a skill you either have or you don’t and it’s always an awkward feeling trying to back out of restaurant you have entered and then realise that maybe it’s not where you want to spend a few hours, especially if you have already been seated. Fortunately we stumbled upon Boccanegra which, even from across the road, with its wooden exterior and handsome signage appeared welcoming and warm. With a quick peek, it seemed that we could really have a nice relaxed dinner under a very homely candlelight, surrounded by an extensive wine collection sprawling through the two wooden and stone dining rooms, and alongside a hip Florentine clientele being served by groovy looking waitstaff.
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January 20th, 2010
One great thing about visiting these major cities at this time of year is that they are not swamped by tourists. You really do have more of the city to explore as you won’t need to line up at museums that would usually have you spending at least 4-5 hours of your time queuing. So you gain all this time to enjoy the city and fit in a couple of extra features that summer visitors normally can’t. There is one place that will usually have a queue no matter what time of year, It’s a tiny little institution for lunch a few steps for the central markets (mercati centrale di San Lorenzo) called Mario. Every Florentine knows about it, and the astute tourist will do their best to find out about it. It’s hit or miss whether you will find any artichokes on the menu but that shouldn’t stop you from having lunch there. They aren’t open at dinner so you need to schedule carefully between museum or church visits.
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January 12th, 2010
Risotto in Florence
A quick stop in Florence. We arrived early in the morning and had a tight schedule for the following 36 hours. In eating terms, that’s two lunches and one dinner. Breakfast always seems to be a stand up coffee and croissant so they don’t count.We lived in Florence for a year a while back so navigation was not a problem in terms of finding the right places to hit for lunch. The first stop was at Nerbone which is an institution in the central food markets (mercati centrale di San Lorenzo)of the city. Cheap, fast but you have to get in quick or be patient and wait for a cold, hard, metallic seat to free up. You order cafeteria style, taking a tray from the counter to share a table with a mixture of locals who know where to get a quick, quality lunch, and curious tourists visiting the food markets for the first time.
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January 3rd, 2010
Carciofi alla Giudea / Artichokes Jewish Style
Carciofi alla Giudea rolls off the tongue a lot easier that Artichokes Jewish Style so I will refer to them by that name in this post.
Now if I had to name my all time favourite artichoke dish, this one would have to be in the top two or three to choose from. Even though I don’t have children, I reckon they’d be a hit with the kids. The leaves become golden and crunchy and are fun to eat, kind of like eating potato crisps. You can work your way around the crispy leaves of the artichoke until you reach the soft tender heart. I don’t know anyone who hasn’t loved these artichokes. They are absolutely unique and instil excitement and curiosity into the eating experience, (or maybe that’s just me).
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December 30th, 2009
We start in Rome.
When in Roma, eat artichokes alla Romana or alla Giudea. You wont regret it.
Alice and I had a Chrismas holiday together with Alice’s brother, Chris. He’d never been to Italy before so we showed him around Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan and Turin. I never get tired of going back to these places. There is always more to explore and discover, especially on a culinary level.
For our first lunch we were directed to Da Tonino, (Via del governo vecchio, 18, 00186 – Roma (RM) Italia Cell.333 5870779 )MAP
A hole in the wall kind of establishment which served good, honest and generous portions of flavoursome food. In some respects, this first lunch of my holiday was the most memorable, even more than our Christmas lunch. I have simple tastes and I’m a total sucker for food without pretense. I do appreciate talented chefs experimenting with new fusion of flavours and skillfully presenting dishes, but the simple, the rustic, the humble and the down to earth gets me much more excited.
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December 16th, 2009
Violetto di San Erasmo
I went to San Erasmo in the late Spring 2009 to check out the artichokes of the island. The island is a 30 minute ferry ride from Venice. It’s a pretty sleepy little place with no discernable tourist attractions or facilities. I took a walk around the island asking different artichoke growers about their local speciality and taking photos of their plantations. Called Violetto di San Erasmo, this artichoke is legendary and has been grown on the island for a couple of centuries. Some plants on the island are over 100 years old and a plant can produce about 100 artichokes over the season. They are only one of two artichokes to be listed as a Slowfood Presidium. This means the growers on the island band together with Slowfood® to set the guidelines ensuring that the authenticity of this ancient and prized artichoke is maintained.
The plant produces three different artichoke buds that are picked. First is the Castroere, which is a very small tender first shoot They are quite rare as every plant only produces about 2 or 3. They are highly prized and they sell for about €1.50 each. They are so tender they can be eaten raw and are preferred that way although they are sometimes fried. The name Castroere derives from word to castrate, so imagine castrating the young bud at around Easter and you have this artichoke.
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December 12th, 2009
Bruschetta con Carciofi
Let’s get one thing straight. Firstly Bruscetta is pronounced, /brusketa/ and not, /brusheta/. I just had to clear that up. Bruschetta is simply toasted or roasted bread, with garlic, olive oil and salt. That’s it. When you start adding anything on top of that it becomes, Bruschetta with …
In this case I am posting two recipes for Bruschetta with artichokes. One is really easy and flexible which I think is pretty good and fuss free. The other is the very traditional Tuscan recipe. The first is completely dairy free, which I prefer, but the Tuscan one is great in it’s own way which I never refused to eat while I lived in Florence.
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December 10th, 2009
Carpaccio di Fondi
While I still have a few fondi left in the fridge, I thought I could get a quick carpaccio together. Carpaccio usually refers to thinly slice beef that is dressed with Parmiggiano shavings, olive oil and lemon juice. In this recipe, it is the artichoke that is finely sliced and I’ve dressed it with lemon juice, olive oil, capers and shaving of a hard, matured goat cheese. This is an elegant starter which is easier than easy to prepare. People are easily impressed if you present them with a unique raw artichoke dish like this.
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December 9th, 2009
Fondi di Carciofi alla Veneta
These are the artichokes you’ll find all over Venice. They are known as fondi and Venetians can’t get enough of them. Fondi is the plural of fondo which means ‘bottom’ or ‘base’. Seeing as though one would never really deal with a singular fondo, all you need to remember is the plural, fondi. They are quite exquisite and the way they prepare them in Venice is by far the easiest artichoke dish on this site.
In Venice this is the artichoke of choice. You will see them at nearly every fruit and vegetable stall soaking in lemon water. They are all ready to go, no peeling, cleaning or anything is necessary. That’s one reason I love them. This is a dish you will find in all of the ciccetti bars and on most menus of Venetian restaurants.
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December 8th, 2009
Venezia
Artichokes ready for the chop. Artichoke bottoms (fondi) sitting in lemon water
I just got back from 2 weeks in Venice. This obsession with artichokes started in Venice where, in the most part, they don’t even worry about the leaves and go straight to the heart. Here they use the fondi (bases) of the artichoke. Some artichokes are left on the plant a little longer than usual just for this purpose. Although I’ve never seen a Californian artichoke in the flesh, I think they are probably suitable for this purpose too. The most typical recipe and traditional way the Venetians use these fondi is to simply boil them and dress them with olive oil garlic and parsley. They can be served hot, warm or cold. You will find them on most restaurant menus and also at cicchetti bars. Cicchetti are small portions of food, usually eaten standing at a bar anytime between breakfast and dinner. Cicchetti are similar to the Spanish Tapas and can be had as an entire meal or as a snack between meals.
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November 20th, 2009
Carciofi e Coniglio
Alice and I had been expecting a visit from a dear friend, Giuseppe from Florence who we hadn’t seen for over a year. The big news was that he recently became a dad, so we invited him along with his partner Angela and his 2 month old son, Raffaele over for dinner when they were in Turin. I really wanted to put on a nice dinner for him particularly because I know how tough a critic he is with cooking and I always fish for a compliment from such a tough customer. Continue Reading…
November 18th, 2009
Osteria da Zio Aldo and his Fried Artichoke Recipe
Last week I went to Puglia for what turned out to be a little misadventure. I went down for the San Ferdinando Fiera del Carciofo /Artichoke Fair. It turned out that there were no artichokes being cooked but only being promoted. I was pretty disappointed as it was a seven hour train ride to the other end of Italy from where I live. The train ride was not at all disappointing, it was stunning countryside and seaside and well worth it. I must say though, that San Ferdinando was not what I thought it was going to be and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, anytime. I used the opportunity to meet a few locals who knew a few things about artichokes and one guy who is worth a mention is Zio Aldo. Continue Reading…
November 16th, 2009
Artichokes in Naples
This is the first Artichoke dish I found in Naples. It’s a side dish, which is very simple and full of flavour. All you need is a few ingredients you’re already likely to have in the fridge. The true Neapolitan recipe calls for green olives. The dish presents a lot better with green olives rather than the black, which I have used. Either way it’s a tasty treatment of the artichoke.
It only take about 30 minutes from the time you start preparing to the time you’re devouring. They can also be served cold which makes them fantastic as an antipasto which you can prepare ahead of time. Read on for the recipe
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November 13th, 2009
Barchette di Carciofi con Mozzarella e Spinaci
Straight from the south of Italy, this is an awesome entree or side dish. Ideally served straight out of the oven and drizzled with a little olive oil. They are quite a pretty looking artichokes and the way they turn into little containers of tasty goodness is a fun feature. Here’s the recipe.
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November 12th, 2009
Insalata D’inverno
When I shop at the markets I act a little suspiciously around the artichokes stalls. I stand next to older people, almost like a stalker, ready to pounce on them for a recipe. Overwhelmingly, when I do ask someone buying artichokes, how they are going to prepare them, they mostly say, ‘raw in a salad
So here’s a dish form Liguria which is quick, fresh, and healthy and uses all ingredients which you’ll find in season together.
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November 8th, 2009
Al dente, simply translates as ‘to the tooth’.
What it means is that the teeth should find some resistance to the pasta as they bite into it or chew on it. This also applies to vegetables.
In Italy, if you are served a plate of pasta, which is not ‘al dente’ or overcooked, you can send it back to the kitchen because Italians believe overcooked pasta is reeks havoc on your digestion.
Worse still, if you are cooking for Italians and send out some over cooked pasta, BEWARE. I once had someone poke his head into the kitchen I was working in and said “hey chef, I think that spaghetti was probably overcooked by half a minute” Leaving the pasta ‘al dente’ actually increases the complexity in flavours of a dish. Try it if you don’t believe me. Living in Italy has made me an ‘al dente’ snob. I won’t accept overcooked pasta anymore unless it’s cooked by my auntie who, at her age, has problems chewing.
My golden rule for cooking pasta ‘al dente’ is simple:
Be ready to serve 1 minute before the indicated cooking time of the pasta.
ie. If the cooking time for your pasta is 10 minutes, be ready to serve in 9 minutes.
Pasta keeps cooking after it is drained, while you add and stir in the sauce, while you serve it onto plates, while you sprinkle it with cheese, while you fuss around the kitchen, while you are making a toast with your guests. If you follow this rule, by the time you get to your first forkful of pasta, it should be perfectly ‘al dente’
November 8th, 2009
Carciofi alla Calabrese
This is a side dish from my home region of Calabria. It’s fast, easy and and like most food in Calabria, incredibly tasty. A dish like this will show those of you who think artichokes are too much work just how easy and how quickly you can get great results in half an hour. Get ‘em while they’re hot.
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November 8th, 2009
Beef Involtini with Prosciutto & Artichokes / Involtini di Manzo con i Carciofi
When I tried this recipe for the first time I thought it was a bit light on artichokes. I will give you the traditional recipe and suggest a way to up the artichoke pleasure. I had a few tries t this one before I could get it looking worthy of a photograph. Putting all these ingredients together is a pretty unbeatable combination. They can be prepared ahead of time and heated in the oven at the last minute before serving. Here’s the recipe
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October 30th, 2009
Before you begin with trimming, prepare a bowl of cold water with lemon juice.
You’ll need a sharp paring knife or a good quality vegetable peeler.
See here how to Prepare an Artichoke.
A step by step photographic set of instructions follows:
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October 30th, 2009
Begin by removing the outer, tougher leaves.
Work your way around the choke.
The leaves will come away without too much effort.
Keep removing the outer leaves until you get the more tender inner choke. For recipes calling for the stem to kept in tact, you can peel the stem at this point.
Trim the stem at the base of the choke or leave a little stem attached. That will depend on you.
Keep the stem aside for further cleaning while you start trimming the artichoke.
Remove the tougher skin at the base. This is usually a deep green.
Work your way all around the base. Kind of like peeling an apple.
Using a serrated knife, cut off approximately 2/3 from the top of the leaves and discard.
Now you will have something that may look familiar.
Cut this in half.
or into quarters
When removing the inner hair from a half choke, use the point of a sharp paring knife or scoop it out with a teaspoon.
Now you have a clean artichoke. You can use the half, the quarter or cut into slithers from here.
See here to Trim the stem.
Remember to put the cut artichokes into a bowl of lemon water straight away so they don’t darken.
The Artichoke Blog ©
October 29th, 2009
Foglie d’ulivo con carciofi – Olive leaf pasta with artichokes
This is the first dish I made this season. I invited a few people over before a movie and laid this dish out on the table to get the artichoke season rolling.
Foglie d ‘ulivo is simply a flat pasta in the shape of leaves from the olive tree. Any other flat, short pasta will be fine.
Here’s the recipe:
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October 27th, 2009
1. Spinoso Sardo – AKA – Spinoso di Albenga
Sardinia, Liguria (Italy)
2. Spinoso di Palermo – AKA – Spinoso di Sciacca, Gela
Sicily, (Italy)
3. Verde di Putignano
Puglia (Italy)
4. Precoce Violetto di Chioggia – AKA – Violetto di Venezia
Veneto, (Italy)
5. Violetto di Toscana – AKA – Violetto
Toscana , Emiglia Romagna, Marche (Italy)
6. Moretto -AKA- Morello -similar to number 5
Liguria (Italy)
7. Verde di Castellammare
Lazio (Italy)
8. Verde di Pesaro
Marche (Italy)
9. Catanese – AKA – Violetto di Sicilia
(France, Tunisia, Algeria,Egypt,Israel, Italy)
10. Masedu – AKA – Liscio Sardo
Sardinia (Italy)
11. Mazzaferrata di Toscana – AKA – Testa di Ferro
Toscana (Italy)
12. Bianco Tarantino
Puglia (Italy)
13. A Pigna
Calabria (Italy)
14. Locale di Cuneo
Piemonte ( Italy)
15. Catalogna – AKA – Catanese & Molese tardivo
Puglia, Sicily, Basilicata (Italy)
16. Nostrano di Ascoli Piceno – AKA – Ascolano
Marche (Italy)
17. Violet de Provence -AKA – Violetto Francese
(France, Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Italy)
18. Violetto di Putignano
Puglia (Italy)
19. Violetto di Teramo
Abruzzi (Italy)
20. Precoce di Jesi
Marche (Italy)
21. Empolese -AKA- Nostrano tipo nero
Toscana (Italy)
22. Macau
(France)
23. Castellammare – AKA – Romanesco
Lazio, Campania (Italy)
24. Compagnano – AKA – Romanesco, Mazzaferrata
Lazio, Campania (Italy)
25. Romanesco a Bratee Violette – AKA – Romano, Campagnano
Lazio (Italy)
26. Mazzaferrata di Termoli
Abruzzi, Molise (Italy)
27. Blanco
La Plata (Argentina)
28. Sakiz
Irmir (Turkey)
29. Tudela
Alicante, Muricia, Rioja-Saragozza, Catalogna, Andalusia (Spain)
30. Escarot
(France)
31. Violet de Camargue
(France)
32. Nato
La Plata (Argentina)
33. Gros Camus de Bretagne
(Spain, Algeria, Marocco, Bretagne- France)
34. Camard
(France)
35. Bayrampasa
(Turkey)
Source: A.C Castelli & C.A. Castelli, The Sensuos Artichoke – Magic of the Artichoke, Castelli & Castelli, 1978 -79, p40
The Artichoke Blog ©
October 27th, 2009
Source: A.C Castelli & C.A. Castelli, The Sensuos Artichoke – Magic of the Artichoke, Castelli & Castelli, 1978 -79, p 29
October 27th, 2009
Celebrating the Artichoke at the Sagre
In Italy a ‘Sagra’ is a celebration of food, usually a particular food. Here is a list of artichoke sagre (celebrations) around Italy. These events are a real mixed bag, some much more appealing than others. Some of the larger ones in bigger towns have had a tendency to explode out of proportion. Once you manage to find parking at these events, you will find dozens and dozens of market stalls which sell nothing but cheap ‘made in China’ type junk. Many other stands have nothing at all to do with artichokes. If you can avoid those ones, the remaining few sell fresh raw artichokes or you can try plenty of artichoke dishes prepared in heaps of different ways which will make the whole experience worth it. It’s always good to remember that there will be tasty morsels everywhere at hand and usually an area to have a sit down lunch or dinner. Obviously, each town has it’s own specialty and you should never leave town without at least trying some of what locals do best. Continue Reading…
October 15th, 2009
So which way to Ramacca?
OK…
When my Sicilian friend, Filippo, told me that I should try roasted artichokes I thought I shouldn’t miss a celebration in the proudest headquarters of this tradition, Ramacca. We (Alice and I) drove to Ramacca by taking a minor road winding through field after field of the locally prized artichokes, the Violetta Ramaccana. Driving into this hilly town for the annual Sagra di Carciofi (Sagra translates to festival), I was struck by the dilemma of trying to convey the unique aroma of smoke infused with olive oil and laced with a healthy suggestion of a small farming country town in the middle of Sicily. Continue Reading…
October 11th, 2009
“Italy is really like a great , mythological artichoke…a single
flower, green and purple, where each leaf hides another,each layer
covers another layer,jealously hidden. He who knows how to take off
the outer leaves will discover unimaginable things, in a difficult
voyage in time and space.”
Carlo Levi, Le Mille Patrie (Rome 2000)
The Artichoke Blog ©
October 10th, 2009
Thanks for stopping and having a look. This blog will be dedicated to my scoping out of artichoke recipes, artichoke festivals over this coming Winter & Spring 2009 / 2010 season here in Italy. I’m living in Turin, in the north west of Italy. This city boasts about a lot of things, among these is the claim that Turin has the largest outdoor fresh produce market in Europe called Porta Palazzo markets. They are quite enormous, but as the claim to fame is that they are the largest outdoor markets, I’m supposing that somewhere in Europe there is a larger and possibly more impressive indoor market. That aside, Porta Palazzo markets are a great place to shop and watch the seasons change over the 2 years I have lived here.
There is a covered section of the market dedicated to the local farmers. Here you’ll find the same faces showing up on most days to sell produce they picked earlier in the morning. They serve you with mud encrusted hands and, for some of the older folk, with hunched over postures. Unfortunately, there are no local farmers who bring artichokes to sell until very late in Spring(if at all), which means that until May I can only source artichokes from the main open air market. This main area is dedicated to produce from all over Italy, Europe and in some cases imported from Africa and South America. When I’m not out of Turin looking for artichokes and artichoke recipes, this is where I will buy artichokes for the following 5 to 6 months.
Now, Autumn is well under way and although farmers in some parts of the country have to wait til later in Spring 2010 to harvest from older plants, some other farmers, who planted earlier this year, will be collecting their first harvest around now. This means that from now til around the middle of May 2010, we should see artichokes on the market stalls.
Yesterday I went to do some shopping and got there way too late. All the sellers had packed up and the stalls were being packed down. As I walked through to see if I could buy a bargain from any remaining seller, I saw something that took my breath away. On the ground was a loads of left over artichoke debris, bit and pieces, leaves and stems. This was the sign that got me motivated to start this blog the next day. From now til May or June 2010, this vegetable will follow me everywhere and I will follow it.
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