The Tastes of Italy - Art De La Table/The Tastes of Italy - Art de la Table.iso/RECIPES/ARTICLE.TXT

Text File | 1996-04-29 | 4KB | 68 lines

There can be no better emblem for Rome - for its
ambitions, its joys, its persnickityness - than the hard-
shelled, soft-centered, many-layered, multi-hued artichoke,
in Italian carciofo, plural carciofi.  That there are prickly
spines and a choke only add to the "Roman-ness" of the
artichoke.  Moreover, the regal-looking immature fruit of
Cynar scolymus responds well to the cook's touch,
producing the most delectable and varying flavors of
virtually any plant.  It also yields the basis for an unusual
digestivo, known as Cynar, taken from the Latin name.  In
fact, the artichoke contains many enzymes and sugars -
one of them mimics insulin - that are useful to the human
body.  This explains why artichokes and their extracts
figure so prominently in folk medicine in the
Mediterranean.  Modern medicine has proved out these
informal applications to a certain degree, although the
employment of artichoke extract as a predictor for
pregnancy seems to have been lost to the ages.
Artichokes are mildly regulating to the digestive system,
and have a natural cholesterol inhibitor.  (This all suggests
that the so-called "Mediterranean diet" needs to be
examined on a micro-nutritional level, rather than in a
broad-brush approach that dwells only upon general
headings such as "vegetables," "fish," and "oil.")

The word carciofo derives from harsuf.  However, that
Arabic word referred to what today we call the Jerusalem
artichoke and was mistakenly applied to the regular
artichoke.  While there is some evidence that there were
artichokes in ancient Egypt and Carthage, it appears that
these were wild growing and gathered rather than cultivated
and harvested. For general purposes, it can be safely said
that the artichoke was first cultivated in  Sicily, southern
Italy and the Mediterranean coast of what is now France,
and that it first reached central Italy during the Etruscan-
Roman period in approximately the 4th century B.C.  By
the year 400 A.D. the artichoke was being raised in
northern Italy.  Other experts contend that the artichoke
was, in fact, first domesticated and intensively cultivated
around Rome, specifically between Civatecchia and the
Tolfa mountains, again with a significant assist from the
Etruscans.  The progress of the artichoke through
Provence northward seems to have occurred at about the
same speed, although the farming of them spread most
rapidly in northern France under the encouragement of
Catherine de'Medici, who convinced the French of the
artichoke's value by shrewdly repeating the old wive's tale
that the hearts were an aphrodisiac.  (Certainly, aside from
Italy, no other country has held the artichaut in such high
esteem as has France.)  The violet-tinged artichoke of
Provence is perhaps the most beautiful of the family, not
only because of its luscious color but because of its
multiple fruiting on the end of its stalks.  The variety is
tiny, and on top of that, is eaten young before the choke
has had time to develop.

All areas of Italy have their ways of cooking artichokes, or
have adapted a dish, generally from the south.  But it is in
Rome that the art of artichokes reaches its zenith.  One
noteworthy observation about the cooking of artichokes
concerns its mixing with other foods.  Artichokes go well
with other strong flavors.  They are best with lemon, oil,
and fresh herbs, although the French eat artichokes with
mayonnaise and its variants.  Choose artichokes that are
not discolored and whose leaves are tightly closed, or only
slightly open.  They should never be raggedy or mottled in
appearance.