Artichokes

The classic way to prepare these delectable gems is to steam them and serve them hot with some butter on the side. To eat them, pull off each leaf one by one; hold it by the tip and draw the bottom edge across a pat of butter, then drag it over your bottom front teeth, biting down into it to scrape the buttery, meaty bits into your mouth. If you happen to be a mathematician, as you remove the leaves you may take note their spiraling formation follows the Fibonacci sequence.

After you have stripped off all the leaves you will encounter the heart, which is covered by the hairy choke. Remove the choke and scrape any stray hairs away. Cut the heart into pieces, dip in butter, and savor.

SERVES 4

Ingredients:

4 artichokes

4 pats of butter

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Instructions: 

▪ With a sharp knife, trim off the end of the stem and about ½ inch from the top of the artichoke. Use a pair of scissors to snip off the thorny end of each leaf. Rinse the artichokes under cool water. Insert a steaming rack in a saucepan with a tightly fitting cover. Add water just up to the bottom of the steaming rack, add the artichokes, cover, and set on high heat. Once the water comes to a boil, reduce the heat to maintain a low simmer that will generate steam.

▪ Small artichokes will take about 20 minutes to cook and large ones can take 40 minutes. They are done when you can easily pull a leaf off; use tongs to do this test.

WARNING: to make sure the water hasn’t boiled out and that you are burning the pan instead of steaming the artichokes, every 15 minutes or so add more water. You’ll have to do this quickly to minimize the escape of steam.

• Place the cooked artichokes on individual side plates, add a pat of butter, and serve.