Vegetables with a heart
ARTICHOKES are readily available at this time of year.
The Moors introduced cultivated artichokes into Spain in medieval times, while the Dutch introduced artichokes to England, where they grew in Henry VIII's garden at Newhall in 1530. They were taken to the United States in the 19th century—to Louisiana by French immigrants and to California by Spanish immigrants.
In Spain today, we have access to quality artichokesthink of the 'Alcachofa de Tudela' from Navarra and the Valencian artichoke from Benicarló in Castellón - separate designations of origin were introduced to protect them.
Nowaday's Spain is the second largest exporter of artichokes in the world.
Artichokes were not only considered a luxury vegetable that was 'conducive to love', soon people learned about their excellent properties. In addition to minerals such as potassium, calcium and magnesium, the artichoke also contains a number of vitamins with excellent medicinal properties as well as antioxidants.
Not only does it help fight high cholesterol, artichokes reduce the risk of arteriosclerosis, while maintaining healthy gall bladders and livers.
Who is the most beautiful?
Artichokes belong to the thistle family.
The edible portion of the plant consists of the flower buds before the flowers come into bloom. The budding artichoke flower-head is a cluster of many budding small flowers together with many bracts, on an edible base.
Once the buds bloom, the structure changes to a coarse, barely edible form. Another variety of the same species is the cardoon, a perennial plant native to the Mediterranean region. Both wild forms and cultivated varieties exist.
The largest ones are not necessarily the best, all must be weighed in hand, palpated, examined piece by piece, and if they prick, put back again. This is because the thistle vegetable does this when the petals do not tightly enclose the head, and this means the artichokes are no longer at their freshest. It is also best to leave blackspotted ones that appear dry and are too light.
Artichokes can be stuffed, boiled, roasted on the plancha or made into a tortilla. They demand garlic and olive oil, tomatoes and Mediterranean herbs.
They give a certain touch to rice, pasta and braised rabbit. And they go wonderfully with fresh broad beans,
Here on the coast, it is traditional to stuff the artichokes with garlic, herbs and olive oil, a piece of chorizo or Manchego cheese and cook them in a pot with a little wine or water.
But artichokes, like asparagus, have a flaw .... they are generally considered difficult to pair with wines, but there are actually a lot of wines that pair well with them.
The challenge in pairing comes from a naturally occurring chemical in the artichokes called cynarin, which serves to make everything you taste seem sweet.
When the wine meets the cynarin on your palate, it enhances any natural sweetness in the wine, making it taste not only too sweet, but flabby and boring.
So, the key to pairing wine with any artichoke dish is to choose a wine that is bone dry, light and crisp, with high acidity and no oak like a Basque Txakoli which is very dry and slightly sparkling.
How to win their heart
Artichokes are not as difficult as they seem to cook. You just have to get to their heart somehow. This can be done quite well with a serrated knife. The upper part is cut off generously, this can be a third to half. Then tear off the outer layers of leaves with your fingers until the young, fine, light-coloured leaves are revealed. The white, fibrous inside is scraped out with a spoon.
Use a potato peeler to peel off the hard part of the artichoke base until the soft flesh is revealed. The stem is also peeled down to the soft inside. That there is not much left over is normal and should not worry you, because the vegetable is not expensive. In any case, it is cheaper to prepare fresh artichokes yourself than to buy fresh, clean artichoke hearts, which are sometimes on sale.
As the thistle vegetables quickly change colour when exposed to air, lemon is often added, but this gives the artichokes a bitter taste. The best method is to add parsley or a little flour to the water in which they are kept for the time being. This keeps the artichokes white.
Cooked artichokes can be reheated the next day in hot water and served with a vinaigrette. You can also remove the bottom and fry them with garlic and thyme in hot olive oil or butter.
Vinaigrette
For 4 medium artichokes: 2 tbsp wine vinegar, 4 tbsp white wine, 1 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper, 1 tsp Dijon mustard (mostaza), yolks of 3 hard-boiled eggs, 4 tbsp olive oil, 1 small onion, 1/2 clove garlic, 1 tbsp each chopped tarragon (estragón) and chervil (perifollo).
Prepare and cook the artichokes as described. Mix the vinegar with the white wine, spices and mustard. Crush the egg yolks, mix with olive oil and add to the vinegar-wine marinade. Finish with finely chopped onion, crushed garlic and fresh chopped herbs.
Artichokes with Serrano ham
For 4 pers. as starter: 4 large or 6 small artichokes (alcachofa), 1 bunch of parsley (perejil),3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, 1 1/2 cups of juice from a can of tomatoes (zumo de tomate), a little sugar (azúcar), 1/4 teaspoon of salt (sal),2 tablespoons of dry white wine (vino blanco seco), 30 g of serrano ham (jamón serrano), cut into small cubes, 1 bay leaf (laurel)
Prepare the artichokes as described above. Then cut into six to eight pieces and place in a bowl of cold water. Add the bunch of parsley to prevent the vegetables from discolouring.
Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the tomato juice and sugar. Fry on low heat for 15 minutes until the sauce turns dark.
Heat the other two tablespoons of olive oil in a pan over medium heat, the artichoke pieces should be on the flat side. Add the salt and sauté for two to three minutes, turning them over every 30 seconds so that they brown evenly. Pour in the wine and reduce by half in about half a minute. Add the ham and stir-fry for about ten seconds, then pour in the tomato juice. Add the bay leaf and simmer everything together until the artichokes are soft. This will take another three to four minutes.
Add salt to taste. Add a little more olive oil, sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve.
Seambream fillets with artichokes
For 4 people: 4 fillets of seabream, if they are the smaller portion fish (filetes de dorada, which you can also buy at the fish stall), two fillets of larger specimens are also sufficient, 4 artichokes (alcachofas), 1 leek (puerro), 150 g cherry tomatoes (tomates cereza), a little basil (albahaca), approx. half a glass of white wine (vino blanco), olive oil (aceite de oliva), salt and pepper
Prepare the artichokes as described at the beginning. Cut the heart into very thin slices. Sauté in olive oil, season with salt and pepper.
Cut the leek into pieces, fry for four to five minutes, then add the cherry tomatoes and basil. The artichokes should still have bite. Now deglaze with white wine. When the vegetables are well done, place them on the fish fillets and cook in the oven at about 200 degrees for about twelve minutes.
To serve, place the seabream fillets on the plate. Place the vegetables on top. Fennel would go well with this. It is blanched and fried in olive oil.
Artichokes 'a la plancha'
8 fresh artichokes, good olive oil, coarse sea salt.
Prepare a pot of cold water and add the parsley.
Remove the stems of the artichokes and hard leaves as already described. Cut off the upper part. Keep in the parsley water. Now place one artichoke after the other upside down, open side down, on a chopping board and slice with a sharpened knife from the artichoke heart to the end of the leaves;
Dry the artichoke slices, fry them in a pan or on a plancha with a few drops of olive oil on both sides until nicely browned. Serve sprinkled with coarse sea salt.
Tip: An Italian version involves Parmesan cheese. Just before the artichokes have finished frying, sprinkle them with quality freshly grated Parmesan cheese - which then melts and gives the artichoke slices a nice crust.