Bear with me, I will eventually get to the point …
I think I was 13 when we went on a family holiday that summer, driving through France down to the Alps. We were on our way to stay with the family of a student who had come to stay with us, in Norfolk for a few weeks.
Her name was Violaine and she was 17, several years older than my sisters and me. She was very gracious and kind, and I now look back in something like awe as to how she so quickly settled into our family for the time she was with us.
We must have done something right too - as after her stay when she returned to France, my parents one day received a letter from her parents. It said thank you for making her at home and taking care of her, and extended an offer for our family to visit theirs.
I think it was the very next summer we set off on this trip, and it was an amazing trip. Not just that we were to stay with Violaine’s family and go to the Alps.
But also that we were going to travel down through France, to drive over several days, staying in B&Bs and small hotels.
Oh my goodness this was so so exciting! We had been to France before for holidays and loved it - but always camping (which I still love).
Staying in B&B’s was not something we really did as a family and was something I’d always kind of thought out of our budget, to be honest.
So this was exciting!
Anyway, I could talk / write lots (and lots and lots) more about that holiday.
The driving, the picnic lunches, the food, the things I learned, the cowbells in the summertime Alps, the lake swimming, the piece of dark chocolate eaten with a piece of baguette, the incredible thunder and lightning storms …
But for now, I take my mind back to a restaurant, in Lyon, I believe.
Another internal SQUEAL - restaurants were SO exciting! And unexpected! And incredible!
ANYWAY.
Apparently, in France, in Lyon, it was normal for a prix fixe menu (fixed price two courses, or maybe three) to include a starter of Globe Artichoke with Vinaigrette. It seemed the height of food luxury to me.
And so my 13-year-old-heart was won over.
I chose it immediately - without even really knowing what it was - and I think it may have started my lifelong love of ‘activity food’. You know, food that you have to physically engage with.
Snails, mussels, oysters, samphire, that sort of thing - anything you have to get involved with, really.
Fast forward from 1983 (or something like that) to today (well, a few weeks ago from today) and I saw a globe artichoke and HAD to buy it and HAD to find out how to cook it for myself for the very first time I’ve ever cooked one.
It was so, so good.
So good I called my dad to see if he remembered Globe Artichoke Day that is such an important date/memory for me and he did! He hadn’t remembered that it was Lyon but he knew exactly what I was talking about and commented that I had always been quite open about my food choices and keen to experiment.
I loved it so much I just wanted to get another and try it again.
And so I did.
Yesterday I re-watched (again - it’s one of my favourite films of all time) the movie Julie and Julia and of course - bien sur - immediately then wondered why I hadn’t before now consulted my copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking re The Artichoke.
Zut alors!
So here is how I prepared and cooked and ate my delicious globe artichoke and its accompanying lemon butter ( beurre au citron) with a little help this time from Julia.
Straight in with a Julia tip then.
Last time I’d just cut the stalk off but she says to bend the stalk and find where it naturally snaps.
This feels natural to me as it’s what we do with asparagus so I liked that and also I really liked that when it does - finally (ok with a little help from me for the one I had) - snap off, you take with it lots of the stringy hairy stuff that was otherwise going to be at the bottom of the heart.
Anyway, however you choose to take off the stalk, just neaten it up with a knife so that your artichoke stands tall and stable on its own, upright on a plate.
And pull off any little leaves that are around the base too.
Next lie the artichoke on one side and cut about 2/3 of an inch off the top.
Then take your kitchen scissors and cut the point off the very top of each leaf.
And we now have a lovely neat artichoke ready to cook.
If you have a lemon, I liked this idea (from Julia) to rub lemon juice over all the cut parts of the artichoke.
But to be honest I don’t think you have to keep it in cold water with some vinegar to stop it discolouring - if all we’re doing is waiting for a big saucepan of water with salt to boil!
When it’s boiling, add the artichoke and boil for 25-35 mins, depending on size.
Take it out of the pan when done and turn upside down in a colander to drain.
You can leave it to rest here while you make your sauce if you haven’t already done so. It doesn’t matter either way - globe artichokes are good hot or warm or even cold.
I just let mine have a little rest in the colander while I made a melted lemon butter sauce to dip it in.
You can of course make any sauce you like to go with your artichoke - a lovely vinaigrette French dressing; mayonnaise; melted butter; lemon melted butter sauce; hollandaise …
I LOVE lemon butter, beurre au citron.
First time, a few weeks ago, I just put my room temperature butter in a little pan with lots of salt and pepper and lemon juice (I think it was one big juicy lemon) - and then simmered for a little.
It was delicous.
Today, I tried Julia’s method for Beurre au Citron lemon butter sauce and I have to say I do think there was a certain je ne sais quoi that was just that little bit better about it!
I didn’t measure though - although she does give quantities in the book - as I only had one lemon and I have no idea if its juice was anywhere near 1/8 of a pint …
I choose to use my own taste buds as to whether it’s good or not.
So in went the lemon juice, some salt and a good big pinch of white pepper and I brought this to a simmer.
Then a couple of little cubes of butter, chilled, straight from the fridge - and as they hit the pan, take the pan off the heat. Whisk the butter in.
When absorbed, put the pan back on a very gentle heat and add more butter, cube by cube, as each melts and becomes part of the sauce.
Taste every now and then so you know if still has a good lemony tang.
Once all the butter you choose to add is melted into the sauce, add a teaspoon or two (or three) of hot water, straight from the kettle and stir this in too.
And that’s the sauce done ….
To eat- you just pull off a leaf at a time from the artichoke.
Dip the end into the melted lemon butter - or other sauce of your choice.
Scrape off the delicious tender flesh between your teeth and discard the rest of the leaf.
When all the leaves are finished, you will come to the heart.
This we can eat with a knife and fork - but again dipping each forkful into the sauce - after of course scraping away the choke or hairy bits.
It’s so worth the work, that little effort.
The heart is delightful. It’s like the leaves were just the build up somehow to getting, to having, to eating … that tender heart of the plant in a bigger amount.
A whole forkful of artichoke heart, dipped into your favourite sauce.
It’s not just activity food.
It’s kind of heaven food.
BEAUTY FOOD NOTE
Artichokes are low in fat, high in fibre, and full of vitamins and minerals such as vitamin C, vitamin K, folate, phosphorus, and magnesium. They are also one of the richest sources of antioxidants.
