The First Time I Cooked An Artichoke

On the shelves of stores, exotic fruits and vegetables are no longer a novelty. But surprises do happen.

On the shelves of stores, exotic fruits and vegetables are no longer a novelty. But surprises do happen. One of them for me is the artichoke. Looking at it, it is impossible to immediately understand exactly how it is. It looks very mysterious and frightening, to be honest. But I was full of confidence in success!

 

Armed with a theoretical base, I decided to steam the artichoke.

To begin with, with kitchen scissors, carefully cut the outer leaves to about half. With a sharp knife, I cut off a part of about 2.5 centimeters from the top. At the base, I removed small leaves and cut off the hard stem. Rinse under running water, gently opening the leaves.

 

The preparatory phase has been completed.

Pour clean water into a large pot. Lemon, garlic, celery stalk, bay leaf can be added to it for flavor. I set the steaming tray on top, laid out the artichoke and covered with a lid. Cooked for about 30 minutes over medium heat.

At this stage, the leaves are very easy to move away, and the artichoke itself looks like an exotic flower. But, as it turned out, this is not the end, because you need to get to the "heart" of the artichoke.

 

By the way, the leaves can be served with sauce or melted butter as an appetizer. Pinch off a leaf, dip its soft edge into the sauce and bite off. The hard part of the sheet, alas, is not used. Closer to the core, the leaves are soft, tender, almost transparent. But don't let that fool you! You can eat only the light part, the top must be thrown away.

Then a new surprise awaited me - the "heart" of the artichoke is covered with a hair part. It must be carefully removed with a sharp knife or the edge of a fork. Well, now that's all, the very edible part for which the artichoke is so valued. It can be added to a salad, pasta, pie, or simply cut into pieces and eaten with the same sauce.

 

It was definitely an interesting and delicious experience. Making discoveries in the kitchen is always great!