Artichoke, a perennial thistle, has its origin in Southern part of Europe. Maximum height of this thistle is around 2 meters. Length of its leaves is around 82 cm and they are green in color. Buds are the only edible components of this thistle. All parts of the bud are also not edible. It is the heart of the bud, which is edible and has several medicinal usages too. Heart refers to the fleshy portions on the lower side of this thorny plant. It has some mass at its center. This mass is referred as choke. If the flower is older, its choke is generally not edible. Due to its culinary and medicinal impacts, eating artichoke is now gaining popularity.
In this article we will answer the question how to eat artichoke in a lucid manner.
- Before you can start eating artichoke, you need a knife or a pair of scissors. These instruments are required to cut off and clear the sharp leaves. However, clearing off the leaves is not mandatory and many people do not go for it. If you want to eat artichoke in an easier manner, clearing off the leaves will help a lot in this regard.
- Next step of eating artichoke is to boil in water or steam. You need to make this water salty before boiling the artichoke in it. The boiling process should continue for twenty to forty five minutes. You need to continue boiling until the artichoke is tender. While boiling, make sure that you are not covering the pot containing artichoke. Otherwise, acids present in the artichoke cannot find their escape way and make the whole artichoke brown. Microwave can also be used for this purpose. However, make sure that you are not using the microwave for more than 15 minutes.
- Now, drain the boiled product in an upside down manner.
- After it, you have to separate the outer leaves. While separating them, make sure that they are taken out in one by one manner. Then the whole product can be hold like potato chips.
- After this, you can clearly view the part, which is edible. This edible part is generally light in color and is situated at the lower base of every leaf.
- After the edible part is visible, you need to coat its tip with help of dip. The tips of artichoke might vary. Some of the commonly prevalent tips are advised. They are oil, salt and vinegar mixture, combination of garlic and butter, ranch dressing and melted butter.
- Then you can put the leaves in mouth by nibbling the tender parts in the bottom in a gentle manner. The leaves can be consumed until smaller center leaves do not occur. These leaves have lesser meatiness. Quality of these leaves is translucent.
- Taste of the artichoke depends upon the cooking process. If well cooked, they taste better. Heart is the most edible portion of artichoke.
- In case of restaurants, chefs generally prefer to prepare recipes made up of the heart only. Artichoke is being taken by people around the world in different forms and formats.
- Artichoke is an important ingredient of herbal tea. This type of tea is highly popular in Vietnam. Italian liqueur Cynar also contains artichoke content.
Regular artichoke consumption can help you to prevent several health disorders. It increases the flow of bile. This vegetable has a greater bioavailability and can help in making digestive system healthier. It can also enhance the functionalities of liver and gall bladder. Along with, it can also help in improving the ration of good cholesterol HDL and the bad cholesterol LDL. Bioactive agents like apigenin and luteolin are available in artichoke. However, before going for it, you need to have a clear idea on how to eat artichoke. Otherwise, the taste and fun might not be according to expectation. Internet is packed with information related to how to eat artichoke.
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