Let’s have a little chat about how to find the perfect artichoke!! This is my 3rd year of doing artichoke week and it may just be my favorite time of the year. I look forward to this week from the moment I start seeing my artichokes come into view in my front yard. Yes, that’s right, I have artichokes lining my walkway to my front door! (obsessed much)
Artichokes are my absolute favorite food. Admittedly though, artichokes can be quite intimidating to most people. How do you eat them? How do you cook them? What do I even do?
Fear not, artichokes really aren’t as hard as they seem! I promise. This blog post is all about how to find the perfect artichoke in the grocery store or farmers market! Following these few tips will make you an artichoke connoisseur in no time.
FINDING THE PERFECT ARTICHOKE IN THE STORE OR FARMERS MARKET:
- The squeak test. In the store squeeze the artichoke. If it squeaks then it is fresh, ripe, and ready to go!
- Look for leaves that are a nice shade of green and slightly open. Some may have a few discoloring spots. That is from cold weather and actually makes for a very tender artichoke.
- Pick out artichokes that feel heavier and more solid. The older ones will feel a lot lighter.
- Size doesn’t matter. (that’s what she said) Smaller artichokes tend to be a bit more tender and a little sweeter, but the larger ones have more “meat” to them and have a larger heart (the best part)
GROWING THE PERFECT ARTICHOKE:
I live in California where artichokes thrive! Below are a few articles that I found that may be helpful if you want to grow your own.
We bought sprouted artichokes and planted them instead of from seed. We have 10 plants spaced about 3 feet apart lining our front yard walkway. They love full sun and we don’t water them much and they seem to do great. Ours grow twice a year. Once in late April, early may and then again in October for a very short time.
Once the season is over we cut them at the base and then a new shoot will grow off of it. We have had ours for about 4 years now. When you go to cut them, cut about 2 inches down and then hit them against something hard. Unfortunately earwigs like to hide in between the leaves, but giving the choke a good whack will make them all fall out. (Don’t worry you don’t need to do this with store bought ones)
https://bonnieplants.com/growing/growing-artichoke/
https://www.grow-it-organically.com/growing-artichokes.html
I hope this post helps you become the artichoke pros I know you all want to be!! Have an artichoke question? Ask away in the comments. Later this week we will talk about the different methods of cooking them chokes, so stay tuned!
