At the market in Lucern, I found these beautiful, giant artichokes.
I am a great fan of artichokes and these giant ones are delicious and have a very short season. So you can imagine my delight when I found them at a famous growers market I was visiting in Lucern, Switzerland.
The market there is very much a favourite of mine. It spreads itself along both sides of the river that divides the centre of the old town before flowing into the lake. The setting is a picture postcard. Best of all, it is a genuine display of produce from surrounding farms situated in some of the richest growing areas in Switzerland. The market has rows of small stands with proud growers standing next to their produce full of chat about how it was grown, picked and stored and how best it should be eaten. I just had to buy some of the artichokes.
The best way to prepare them is to boil the artichokes and then serve them with home made mayonnaise or vinaigrette. They are so full of flavour that they only need the simplest preparation.
- Ingredients
- calculate one artichoke per person
- boil the artichoke in plenty of water ( you might need several pans)
- You will know if it is cooked, when the center of the stem feels tender
- drain the artichoke and put on a serving plate
- make the mayonnaise or vinaigrette
peel off one leaf after the other and dip the soft part into the mayonnaise
when you get to the end of the leaves, cut them off and expose the heart, making sure to remove all the 'beard'
this is the best and sweetest part of the artichoke
