This rich winter vegetable is so unique that it is not a fruit but a flower that has not yet opened up to the world. We tend to think it is bitter, tough, and indigestible, but it is quite the opposite: It leaves a sweet taste in the mouth and is a good diuretic, heart-healthy, and liver-gallbladder protector. Now, do we know how to cook it and get the most out of it? Do we get overwhelmed by the significant waste involved in its preparation? Are we afraid of its quick oxidation?
The preparation and cooking of artichokes, a food that is very close to us and offers a lot of possibilities, raises many doubts. With the help of Albert Mendiola, chef of the Marimorena restaurants in Barcelona and Sant Boi, an area known for producing this tasty yet unborn flower, and with Luis Torres, head chef of the Círculo del Liceo in Barcelona, we uncover the 10 mistakes that will ruin your artichoke dishes.
1. Choosing the wrong artichoke: Paying more attention to color than texture.
There are several varieties of artichokes, each with its own nuances. Albert Mendiola, in his restaurants La Marimorena in Sant Boi and Barcelona, opts for the closest ones, which in his case are the so-called 'Carxofa Prat' from Baix Llobregat, a white variety from Tudela. It is a milder artichoke than other better-known varieties, such as the violet artichoke, which is more consumed in its various forms in France and Italy.
When we go to buy them, we may find that some have brownish spots: "Some parts may have been burnt by the cold, but we shouldn't worry as long as the artichoke is firm and tight in texture, with closed leaves and a hard stem. If you press it a bit, it shouldn't give in," says Luis Torres, a chef at the restaurant of the Círculo del Liceo, which is an English-style private club exclusively for members.
Now, "if they are very dark and soft, they have been cut for a long time, we must take into account that they are not too fresh," points out Mendiola, while Torres invites us to check that the flower part weighs more than the stem as a guarantee that it is fresh. "If you buy them well and do not handle them, you can store them for up to 21 days in a no-frost fridge."
2. Do not remove the fuzz from the artichoke.
"If an artichoke is fresh, bought in season, it has no hairs inside," Albert Mendiola asserts confidently. It is when you encounter them that we are out of their prime season: "When the temperature is still not cold, they come out quickly, they have to be harvested very quickly," explains the chef from Sant Boi.
"Those filaments are the future pistils," says Luis Torres, who gives us a tip to check that it won't turn out too hairy: "You have to look at the tip, where all the leaves come together, there should be a little hole, if you see the dimple, you won't have to remove as many threads, which are very annoying." In case they appear, if we have stripped and cut the artichoke, Luis suggests using a small corer or turner to scrape the heart and remove the hairs. "If it's whole, by manually separating the leaves a bit, we can already remove them."
3. Not cutting it appropriately for the preparation we are going to make.
Well, depending on what we do with the artichoke, and there are many possibilities, we will need to cut it in one way or another. Here are some examples for you. If you are going to braise it, "it is advisable to use it whole to protect the heart well from the heat." If you want to make a stir-fry, a rice dish, or some noodles, it is better to cut it and clean it well and only keep the heart, the tenderest part with a yellowish color. Particularly important is the case of carpaccio, "because if there is any thick leaf left, we could choke," points out Torres. If you want to make chips, you have to slice them thinly with a slicer or a sharp knife.
"The stem of the artichoke is totally edible, very suitable for sautés or salads even, but you have to remove the outer part with a knife," says the chef from the Círculo del Liceu. Mendiola points out that she uses both a knife and her hands to handle it. It is important to note that as soon as you start working with it, oxidation begins. This is a highly oxidizable food."
4. Do we fight oxidation with lemon, parsley, or ascorbic acid?
If you are going to cook artichokes immediately, there is no need to do anything to prevent oxidation, but since it happens almost instantly, it is a mistake not to know the method to stop it: it's called Vitamin C and can be applied in different ways. The most common method is to place the peeled artichoke pieces in a bowl of cold water with drops of lemon (the juice of two lemons for a liter and a half of water). However, Albert Mendiola prefers to do it with parsley, which also has a high amount of this vitamin, "because it doesn't convey its flavor to the artichoke, for me, lemon gives it a canned artichoke touch."
To ensure proper coverage, the chef covers the bowl with a damp cloth or paper "because artichokes float, and this way the ones on top are always moist and won't turn black," and assures that they can last a day in the fridge.
For Luis Torres, lemon is a great ally when making a carpaccio, "because it serves almost like a dressing," but if you want to make rice, it can be counterproductive because it overshadows its flavor. Especially if, as some recipes suggest, you rub a lemon directly on the artichoke. Torres, who studied biochemistry at university, comments that equally valid and less flavorful than lemon is ascorbic acid or vitamin C, which can be bought at any pharmacy and is used by the food industry. The amount is a teaspoon of coffee per liter and a half of water.
5. Not drying artichokes properly.
Mendiola insists that if we can cut and cook the artichoke without passing it through water and parsley (or lemon) it is better, for a simple reason: "We must avoid the artichoke coming into contact with the fire wet, and it is easy for that to happen if we submerge it in the bowl of water with vitamin C because the water easily seeps between the leaves."
If we do it to prevent oxidation, we should drain them well. The chef at Marimorena does this by placing them upside down and squeezing them tightly. If they are firm, there's no problem. Luis Torres advises not to soak the artichokes for too long. If they become too wet, we can use a vegetable spinner to remove excess water.
6. Pros and cons of frozen artichokes.
When making, for example, a vegetable cream or soup, choosing frozen artichokes can save us some work since they arrive in our kitchen already prepared and cleaned. These are great conveniences of civilization, although everything has its downside. "They save us time, but they also take away a lot of flavor; cooking requires patience!" says Luis Torres, who is a strong advocate for a good seasonal artichoke. The chef reminds us that industrial freezing breaks the fibers of this unfurled flower and, in addition, during this manipulation process, ascorbic acid is added, giving it "a sour touch that is immediately noticeable."
7. Rice mistakes: Avoiding the artichoke flavor takeover.
How to make our rice with artichoke truly taste like artichoke? If you want it to be imbued with that flavor, don't add the artichokes too late. The ideal is to mix it in the sauté. Luis Torres, who learned to cook by watching his aunt, a cooking professional, includes pieces of the well-peeled stem and Albert the heart diced into sixths: "Cook with the rice and darken the broth." And then, almost when the rice is about to finish, "you can add large pieces previously cooked on the grill or in a pan to decorate," says Luis. "It's a tasty way to play with two textures," Mendiola points out.
In the rice with artichokes that he has been serving to his exclusive clientele at the Círculo del Liceo these days, he incorporates small pieces of sautéed artichoke hearts when adding the broth. "This is how it is cooked with the rice so that it turns out tender."
8. Grilling mistakes: Peeling and not controlling the temperature.
For Albert Mendiola, if they are grilled, the main mistake is burning them with direct flame or leaving them too raw. The key is not finding the right point. "You have to touch them to see if they are soft enough." They can also be made in the oven: "You take them unpeeled, crack them open by hitting them on the table, sprinkle a little salt and oil, and they're ready. However, you have to cut the stem so they sit flat." The chef cooks them at 200 degrees, for about half an hour. "The heat has to be high because otherwise they will turn into a mushy mess like a confit."
Once braised, it is peeled and the core is left clean. From here, it can be sliced, used to make a trinxat, fritters... You can also serve them whole and have people peel them as they eat. Mendiola has a beautiful dish on its menu which is an open flower with oil and vinegar spherifications, and a touch of beetroot that simulates the pistils of the flower. Winter flower with foie gras core, beetroot pistils, and riesling pearls is a sophisticated dish meant to be eaten with your hands, just like in the old days.
9. Omelette and artichoke cream errors (watch out for the handheld blender and the strainer)
The most common mistake for Albert Mendiola when preparing an artichoke omelette is overcooking it. The chef places the braised and sliced artichoke in a bowl with eggs and potatoes, blends it to make a compact mixture, similar to a puree, and cooks it in the paella pan.
In the case of the artichoke cream, Luis Torres' big mistake is not straining it out of laziness. "You've been blending it for 20 minutes and if you don't strain it, you can ruin all the work because you can find fibers." There is no excuse. Even if we make it with the Thermomix. The chef recommends using the small-hole Chinese strainer (because the mesh ones get clogged easily), and he uses a hand blender for assistance.
If you like artichoke chips, they can be made with or without flour. Luis prefers cornstarch and Albert sticks to chickpea flour, both resulting in a very crispy outcome. "If they are not lightly floured, they end up oily," points out the chef from Sant Boi. "It is important to cut them as thinly as possible, fry them in oil at 160 degrees, and flip them over."
10. Not taking advantage of leftover food, lacking creativity or not combining them well.
Albert Mendiola is a passionate artichoke lover who seeks to make the most of one of the foods we waste the most. "It's a mistake not to use in some way the over 50% of waste that an artichoke produces," says the chef, who ingeniously finds ways to reuse what we discard. "When we grill artichokes, we throw away the toasted leaves because they are bitter, but the rest I dehydrate in the oven at 70 degrees for 4 hours. Then, I grind them into a powder that can be used to make an infusion or to coat chocolate bonbons," explains the chef, who includes these two options in his monographic menu on artichokes available for as long as the season lasts. Another possibility is to cook the leaves "to obtain a very flavorful artichoke broth that can be used for a rice dish or served as a consomé." He also serves a calçot with "romesco sauce made with artichoke" because both products coexist during the same time of year.
When it comes to flavors that pair well with artichokes, Karlos Arguiñano advises pairing them with a garlic and ginger mayonnaise. Mendiola explains that they go very well with beer (which is why he uses it to make an orly batter for his artichoke fritters), and Torres reminds us that the classic combination with sautéed ham is ideal.
