Topic: artichokes

[Borlotti]

My new allotment friend gave me these, they take up a lot of space, is it worth growing them and how to cook them, please. Photo attached i hope from tablet

[squeezyjohn]

Definitely worth growing them!  They're perennials so should keep coming back stronger every year provided you protect the crowns from the worst of the frost (I cover mine with straw over winter).  If you want more plants - just divide them when they get bigger.  Just make sure you feed them fairly well and plant them in a space big enough for how big they'll want to get (think small fruit tree!)

As for how to cook - I pick them fairly young and then boil them for about 20 minutes.  The tough outer leaves/petals don't have much goodness in them so discard those - but as you get towards the middle you can dip them in butter and eat the softer bits by scraping with your teeth ... once you get in to the middle then you find the bit that is all soft which is the actual choke - that's the best bit - really sweet and tender.

Take care not to let them get too old as the thistle flower will begin to develop in the middle!  Nobody wants a mouth full of thistle down - I can tell you from bitter experience!

[johhnyco15]

many years ago when i worked as a singer in poros greece they used to grow wild we used to wittle them down to the choke  squeeze lemon over them and eat them raw fantastic thank you for bringing back the memory of days past

[Jayb]

I've never eaten or tasted a globe artichoke, I remember my nan loved them and she thought they were a real treat when she had some.
I didn't realise they were a perennial, I thought a biennial which is partly what has put me off growing them. What sort of taste do they have? 

[Borlotti]

Was not too impressed, but loads of them grown on our allotments by Greeks and Italians. Have been told they are good for the blood. They do seem to get enormous, so i wont be growing them. Also loads of broad beans grown, some covered in blackfly, i prefer runner beans. So italians seem to grow, artichokes, broad beans and loads of garlic which is a heathy diet. Interesting to see what people grow and how they use it, loads of wild fennel which i havent used and not sure about jerulasam artichokes the ones you dig up. Anyone else overdosed on strawberries, has been a good year, so suppose i had better buy some more jam sugar. Man in shop never heard of jam sugar and thought strawberries grew on trees. Gave him a quick lesson on jam making and he said he would try tonight if his mum let him loose in the kitchen. Sorry, off topic again.

[galina]

My new allotment friend gave me these, they take up a lot of space, is it worth growing them and how to cook them, please. Photo attached i hope from tablet

The most common way to cook them is to trim the stem, then boil in a large saucepan for 30 minutes with a bit of salt.  They are ready when you can pull the outer scales off with ease.  Drain and serve with a dressing.  Half mayo/half yoghurt is nice, but there are endless other dips.  Pull off an outer scale, dip the base in dressing and suck off the soft, fleshy little morsel at the base of the scale.  Carry on until they are all eaten.  Then you will see the 'hay' on the inside on top of the artichoke heart.  Remove that and then enjoy the prize, the artichoke heart.  yum.

They are perennial but winters here can finish them off.  The type of winter that kills PSB, will also kill artichokes.  I had my first ones for 4 years and we loved them.  After sharp frosts had killed them, my second attempt got killed the following winter and I haven't bothered since.  Please remember we get colder winters here than most of the UK on the 'spine' of the country.  More coastal regions or sheltered or town spots should have no problem with overwintering them.

In most cases you only get meaningful chokes the second year, despite claims on seed packets.

You can also propagate them from offsets (if that is the right word), from the base of the plant.  They are one of the architectural plants in the garden, tall and pretty and that means they can easily go in the front garden.  The red ones are more attractive, but the green ones produce larger heads.  If you let them go on beyond the edible stage, they open to a huge blue thistle flower.  Again very pretty.  They make seeds about the size of sunflower seeds after flowering.   

[galina]

Taste, now that gets difficult to describe.  Very slightly like avocado perhaps?  Or a bit like broad beans.  I think it is not the sweet, sour, salty or bitter flavours that come to the fore, but perhaps that elusive fifth 'umami' flavour.  Slightly bitter, savoury and very satisfying.  The act of sucking the base of the scales and the flavour gets the 'juices flowing', which is why they make such a satisfying starter.  However I quite believe that it is one of those 'love them or hate them marmite' flavours and not to everybody's taste.

You can buy artichoke hearts in brine but they are not a patch on the real thing.  Occasionally you can buy them fresh in markets or the posher supermarkets.  Perhaps worth getting one and tasting that before embarking on growing them 

There is a related plant to artichoke that is cultivated especially in Italian circles, and that is cardoon.  You eat part of the fleshy leaves after removing the spines and (I believe) after blanching.  Squash64 is the expert, she grows them for her husband.  Equally 'architectural' to look at, but with smaller heads which are not generally eaten.   

[caroline7758]

We had a lovely "allotment salad" yesterday with artichoke, broad beans and peas. The plants do take up quite a lot of room but they are very architectural and if you let some flower they are very pretty.

[Squash64]

I thought you might like to see some of the artichokes we grow on our plot.  They are one of my husband's favourite things, but he is Italian so no surprise there!  This is just one area, he has planted them in every available space.  We have been picking them for about three weeks now.  Galina has described perfectly how to cook and eat them.

We also grow Cardoons which look very similar to artichokes but we only eat the stems and only in Spring.  I say 'we' but again, it's my husband who eats them, not me!

[Robert_Brenchley]

I've tried cardoons before, but the winter waterlogging got them and they didn't survive. I've had one passed on to me, and I'll try it in a raised bed. If it does well, I may well try artichokes. They're lovely plants.

[Borlotti]

Loads growing on allotment site but not being plcked when they are small, as I got a talk on artichokes from allotment friend. Shame when people dont harvest, I hate waste.