Despite the title, this is not a book about artichokes. Or rather, it is and it isn’t. There are some artichoke recipes within, though not terribly many.
What is an artichoke anyway? An unusual yet common vegetable that has been around for a very long time. We call it a vegetable, but actually it is the flower bud of a thistle. And I mean, really, who would ever think to eat a thistle? But there it is, and people have, for millennia.
The artichoke is ripe with metaphor and parable possibilities. Getting past the thorns to the sweet center, all of that. Not at all like reaching up and harvesting a sweet peach, eating an artichoke requires a bit of work.
For those willing to take the journey, the delicious heart is the prize at the end of the trail.