ARtiCHOKE

”A woman is like an artichoke, you must work hard to get to her heart.”

Inspector Jacques Clouseau, Pink Panther

Ingredients

lemon
garlic
bay leaves
fresh artichokes, 1 per person

Try to find the artichokes as fresh as you can, they should be pretty “closed”, not an open bouquet when you buy them. Some people want to slice off the top and also trim the leaves with scissors, but I let the artichoke be as it has been designed. Rinse the artichokes under cold water, remove small leaves at the base and cut off the long stem leaving it just about 1 cm long.

Prepare your boiling water in a large pot and add spices if you like! Garlic, lemon, salt, thyme, bay leaves, you name it! Sometimes I just like it simple and only add a pinch of salt to the water. There should be enough water so that the artichokes will be completely under it. If needed, put a lid smaller than your pot on top of the artichokes, to keep them under the water. Boil the artichokes for about 30 to 40 minutes (depending on their size) and test if they’re done by pulling the outer leaves. If they leave easily, your artichoke is cooked. Drain the artichoke and let it cool down a little.

Tip from the chef: steaming is also a good way to cook an artichoke, you can add spices to the boiling water, add a steaming basket into the pot and put the artichokes there!

While your artichokes are cooking, prepare a dipping sauce. It can be melted butter (with or without lemon), mayonnaise or a rich hollandaise sauce. I love the buttery hollandaise for special occasions and when I’m serving artichokes for guests, but I usually make a lighter version of a garlic mayonnaise when we’re having artichoke for dinner or lunch just the two of us at home. Just mix all the ingredients together and let it sit in a fridge for a while.

Garlic mayonnaise
2 cloves of garlic
1 dl of mayonnaise
1 dl of light creme fraiche (10%)
lemon juice
parsley, salt and pepper

Artichokes can be eaten hot or cold, but I prefer them hot. If you’re making them for 10 people or more, it might be easier if they are served at a room temperature, as it’s quite difficult to cook 10 artichokes or more in a home kitchen.

If you’ve never had an artichoke before, check out this video to understand how they should be eaten. And don’t forget to serve some fresh and fruity white wine with them, such as Chateau Carsin Sauvignon Gris!