Summer bite: artichoke mayo
If there’s one dish that symbolises summer, it’s artichoke with mayo. Warm, the meaty ‘flower bud’ makes an elegant, simple restaurant dish, while cold it’s the perfect picnic bite.
Food has its fashions too. The artichoke was part of the seventies trend, along with Spanish trousers with wide legs and a high waist. After that, we still ate artichokes at home, but they had fallen out of favour in restaurants. Just like steak served on a wooden board with herb butter. But if there’s one dish that represents long summer days, sunshine and being outdoors, it’s the artichoke. You’ll find it in all Mediterranean countries—and back on restaurant menus too. Often paired with a mayonnaise variation.
Louis XIV, naturellement
It was the sixteenth-century Queen of France, Catherine de’ Medici, who first embraced the artichoke in culinary terms. Artichaut was even her favourite snack. As it was, a century later, for Louis XIV, who was responsible for quite a few food trends. Louis actively promoted artichoke cultivation in his country. Purple, green, red and white varieties were regularly eaten at his court. It wasn’t until 1810 that a grower near Paris cultivated the variety that remains a favourite among the French to this day: camus de Bretagne, round, deep green and with broad, short leaves.
Meaty
The texture of the artichoke heart and the underside of the leaves can be described as meaty—and that’s exactly what we want in these vegan times. Especially thanks to the wonderful combination with vegan mayonnaise, into which the underside and the heart are dipped. Because besides vegan, we mainly want food that calls to mind the snack bar.
You can boil or steam the artichoke, but you can also grill and deep-fry it. And despite the mayonnaise, it isn’t fast food at all. On the contrary, stripping the vegetable of all its leaves until you reach the heart—the most delicious part—takes time and patience.
The fact that you can dip it cold too makes the artichoke the perfect picnic bite. Think of Northern Italian bagna cauda. Eat it and you’ll immediately imagine yourself in the south of France. Or in Rome, if you deep-fry it whole with the leaves spread wide. In that case, it’s called carciofo alla giudia.
The heart
You’ll need to practise a little with that last version. Not with this one: wash the artichoke. Cut off the stem and use scissors to trim off the top (prickly) tip. Steam the artichoke whole for about 30 minutes, until you can easily pull off the outer leaves. Meanwhile, make mayonnaise according to this super-quick recipe and add, for example, anchovies, garlic, mustard or saffron. Dip the broad underside of the leaves into the mayo and scrape off the flesh with your teeth. When you reach the heart, remove all the prickly young leaves and chokes, then share this most delicious part fairly with your fellow picnic blanket companions.
Got a taste for it? Then also try this recipe for grilled artichokes with curry mayonnaise. Ridiculously delicious!
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