The Artful Artichoke

By Sheldon Margen and Dale A. Ogar

Artichokes were first grown in Europe, and the French, Italians and Spaniards are still the leading producers worldwide. The entire U.S. commercial crop, meanwhile, is grown in the central coastal area of Northern California, near Monterey. The peak growing season is March through May, but artichokes are actually harvested year round.

An artichoke resembles a green flower and, in fact, is indeed the unopened flower bud of a thistle plant. If the bud is allowed to blossom, its blue-violet blooms would measure about 7 inches in diameter. Artichoke stalks are not only decorative but also delicious and high in iron, vitamin C, folacin, magnesium and fiber. They range in size from huge main-course beauties weighing a pound or more to delicate 2-ounce buds. The size will depend on where it was positioned on the plant, with the largest buds growing on the center stalk and smaller ones on the side branches. The tiniest artichokes grow down at the base of the stalk.

Cooking and serving instructions -- which are complicated enough to discourage many would-be artichoke eaters -- depend on the size of the artichoke, and your efforts will be richly rewarded.

When you buy fresh artichokes, look for buds that are closely tightly and heavy for their size. If the leaves seem dry or have started to open, or if the bud is bruised and its leaves wilted, don't buy it. Look for small wormholes on the stem, a sign of damage inside. If you're not sure how fresh an artichoke is, give it a little squeeze. If it squeaks, the leaves are nice and plump. If you can push your finger right through, it's probably too ripe.

Artichokes look rugged but are actually delicate and quite perishable, and should not be stored in the refrigerator for more than four or five days. Do not wash or trim them until you're ready to use them. Store them in a plastic bag into which you've sprinkled a few drops of water, which will help keep them moist without causing them to rot. Cooked artichokes can be re-wrapped in plastic and kept for several more days.

If you want to serve whole artichokes, wash them carefully under cold running water. Some people cut off the top inch or so of the bud, as well as the tips of the outer leaves, because the leaf tips are not edible. However, if you leave the tip on the leaf, you can use it as a little handle. Inside the leaves is an edible choke, or thistle. Around the choke is the tender "heart."

The traditional way to cook artichokes is to place them stem-down in a pot of boiling water. Cover the pot, and let it come back to a boil. The artichokes will retain more of their color if you lift the lid a few times during cooking. Cook for 20-40 minutes, or until an inner leaf will pull out easily.

If you prefer to steam your vegetables, add about an inch of boiling water to the pot, or use a steamer basket. This will also take 25-40 minutes. Be sure to turn the artichokes upside-down in a colander, and drain well before serving.

If you plan to prepare your artichokes in a microwave, rinse them, but don't dry them. Wrap them individually in plastic wrap, and place them upside-down in a microwave-safe dish. One artichoke will take 4-7 minutes on high power. Add about 3 minutes for each additional artichoke you cook at the same time.

At the table, provide an empty plate or basket for the discarded leaves. Pull off one leaf at a time, starting at the bottom. Dip the fleshy base of the leaf into a sauce of some kind, and draw it through your teeth so that you scrape off the tender part of the leaf. Then discard the rest.

Since you actually eat very little of it, a 12-ounce artichoke without sauce only has about 25 calories. Don't sabotage it with anything too lethal, such melted butter or Hollandaise sauce. Fortunately, you can make healthy dips using nonfat yogurt or sour cream, spices, baby shrimp and what ever your imagination dictates.

Tiny artichokes are edible once they have been trimmed, and can be sautéed or stir-fried whole, along with the bottoms and hearts of regular-size artichokes. They can also be added to pasta or salads, and even make a terrific pizza topping. Those little jars of marinated artichoke hearts, as tasty as they are, usually come packed in oil and are loaded with sodium, so use them sparingly. Look instead for non-marinated canned and frozen artichokes, available in most supermarkets, which are every bit as good as the fresh ones.

Once you remove the choke from a large artichoke, you can stuff it with any number of things and bake until the filling is heated through (20-30 minutes).

The California Artichoke Advisory Board has a Web site at www.artichokes.org that includes a beautifully illustrated page showing how to trim and prepare an artichoke for cooking. Once you get to the site, go to the "Consumer Corner," and look under "Basic Preparation." You can also write to the advisory board and request a copy of the preparation chart; the address is: California Artichoke Advisory Board, PO Box 747, Castroville, CA 95012. The site also offers great artichoke recipes.

Sheldon Margen, M.D., is a professor of public health at the University of California at Berkeley. Dale A. Ogar is managing editor of the University of California at Berkeley "Wellness Letter." They are the authors of "Wellness Kitchen Cookbook," "The Simply Healthy Lowfat Cookbook," "The Wellness Lowfat Cookbook" and "The Wellness Encyclopedia of Food and Nutrition."