BOTANICAL NAME: Cynara scolymus
FAMILY: Asteraceae
The cultivation of the artichoke did not interest kitchen gardeners until the end of the Renaissance. Perhaps this happened in part as a revival of things classical, for the Romans were quite accustomed to pampering artichokes into dishes—if we are to assume that the cardui of the Roman cookbook author Apicius are indeed artichokes. His recipes do not reveal enough clues one way or the other. His cardui are boiled and sauced much like Scolymus hispanicus, a closely related plant still gathered from the wild both for its salsify-like root and for its thorny silver leaves, which can be blanched like cardoons.
Artichokes are called carciofi in Italian. Their season begins in November and extends through the winter into early spring—a good four months later than the normal season in the eastern United States. The last of the Italian artichokes to be harvested are the violet ones, which are considered the best because they are small and so tender that they can be eaten raw in salads. They also lack much less of the inedible, prickly flower part of the artichoke, a feature carefully bred into them by many generations of thoughtful Italian gardeners.
Violet- or purple-colored artichokes showed up in Italy by the seventeenth century; they even appear in paintings. This color is a natural pigmentation that can be heightened through seed selection. Tuscany and the Veneto became famous for their violet artichokes, and the two most popular Italian varieties today, Violetto and Romanesco, are probably descended from these older types. The color does not affect the flavor—in fact the color cooks out—but it certainly helps market gardeners sell them. Romanesco is large headed, round, the so-called classic mammole (breast shape). It can only be grown in mild climate areas of the United States because of its tenderness. Violetto, however, is hardier and more prolific.
The last of the Italian artichokes to be harvested are the violet ones, which are considered the best because they are small and so tender that they can be eaten raw in salads.
The heads of Violetto (meaning “small purple”) are true to its name. They are indeed smaller and more elongated than Romanesco and resemble, in size at least, the type of artichokes once grown in large quantities in the vicinity of New Orleans. If maintained well, and protected from hard freezes, Violetto will produce for four or five years. It normally throws out suckers anyway, so it will yield a continuous supply of new plants without having to start from seed. Violetto also submits readily to an old German method for increasing the size of artichoke heads. Splinters of wood are run through the stems at right angles about four inches below each head. If the wounds are kept open, this will retard flowering and force the head to enlarge to almost double its normal size. When Violetto is enlarged this way, it becomes particularly tender.
These are the tender artichoke hearts that may be used in salads. The Italians have innumerable recipes for artichoke salad, but one of the most exotic comes from Jean-Philippe Derenne’s delightful book La cuisine vagabonde. It is a Tunesian preparation called tomates et artichauts aux pétals de rose (tomatoes and artichokes with rose petals). The tomatoes (try Wagner’s Green Zebra, page 260) are quartered, the artichoke hearts cut into little triangles. A dressing is prepared from olive oil and lemon juice, and rose petals and tarragon leaves are scattered over the top. Very simple, very elegant, and probably quite similar (tomatoes aside) to the sort of artichoke preparations delighted in by the ancient Romans.