CHIAVARI,
Italy – As you all know by now, just about everything you eat, drink, smell,
touch, hear and see in Italy has a story. Some stories are long, other’s like
today’s story on artichokes, are not. It’s a short and thorny tale – if you’ll
excuse the pun – of unrequited love, the love of Zeus, the king of the Gods,
for the beautiful nymph Cynara. She was
young, blonde and beautiful with deep green eyes, and he, well he was, shall we
say, resistible.
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| Cynara, Cynara, Is it Really You? |
But
the mythological Greek King of the Gods was not to be trifled with. He took his
revenge by turning the capricious and flirty nymph into a thorny plant. He colored the plant green, reminiscent of
Cynara’s eyes, and gave it prickly thorns and a prickly center as reminders of
the deep and jealous pain he suffered by her rejection.
We
are reminded of this story every day as this is artichoke season in Italy. The
market stalls are piled high with leafy artichokes of every type, long and
skinny ones with thorns, without thorns, with purple-ish leaves, without
purple-ish leaves, and fat, round ones too. Artichokes are generally known as carciofi in
Italian, except in Genova where they are called artichoke in Genovese dialect,
which is pronounced “are tee cho kay”.
Sound familiar? Artichoke comes from the Arabic al-kharcuf,
and before that from the Persian al’d’ishuk, which means earthy and prickly –
prickly being the best, and most used word to describe this delicious vegetable.
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| A Variation on the Theme |
The plant known as cynara scolymus
in Greek – cynara for our blonde beauty and scolymus, which is Greek for
prickly – there’s that word again - grew
wild in the Mediterranean thirty thousand years ago. Food anthropologist Sergio
G. Grasso likens artichokes to a woman.
‘With its delicious center hidden under layers of prickly leaves,
artichokes, like women, artichokes demand time and patience before giving something away,”
he writes.
My favorites
are the fat, round ones called mammola that grown in and around Rome. They are
the classic artichokes served boiled with butter or Hollandaise sauce outside
of Italy, and served either with a parsley, garlic, and breadcrumb filling or
deep fried “alla Giudea”. The expression "alla giudìa” doesn’t really refer to kosher dietary laws,
but to a style of cooking – in this case in the style of Jewish cooking –
meaning to deep frying in oil which is part of Jewish culinary tradition.
You’ll
find a number of web sites, both in English and Italian, offering recipes using
artichokes, but if
a trip to Rome is in your future, here’s a short list to print out and save of
the best places in Rome to eat ‘carciofi alla Romano’ and ‘alla Giudea’.
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| Restaurant Paris |
PARIS
1) In the heart of Trastevere, this family run restaurant specializes in Roman
cuisine, starting with artichokes. Following antique recipes and traditions,
they use only fresh, local ingredients whenever possible, including the fat,
mammole artichokes that grow in the fields just outside of Rome. The culinary
results are dazzling.
Prices start at: 13 €
- Piazza di San Callisto 7a - 06/5815378
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| Vecchia Roma |
VECCHIA ROMA
2) This restaurant may be called Old Rome, but in the kitchen there is a young
and passionate cook named Rossella. Rossella,
who is the daughter of Tonino, the owner, prepares her own inspired version of
classic ‘alla Romano’ artichokes as well
as ‘alla giudia’ . Vecchia Roma, which has been around since the late 1800’s,
is located near the Basilica of Santa Maria in Capitoline Hill.
Prices start at: 5 € - piazza Campitelli 18 –
06/6864604
DA TEO
3) Take a tip from the locals. Put the menu aside and ask your waiter what’s
cooking today. If they tell you carciofi alla romana, you’ve hit the jackpot.
It’s a double jackpot if you manage to
get a table on the wrap-around terrace. Either way, you can’t go wrong with
this local favorite. Here's another tip: Because this place is so poopular with the locals, you might want to get there a little early, say 7 PM. You'll have a better chance at getting a table.
Prices
start at: 3,50 € - piazza dei Ponziani 7 – 06/5818355
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| Armando al Pantheon |
ARMANDO AL PANTHEON
4) The name says it all. In the shadow of one of Rome’s most famous landmarks,
Armando’s menu reads like a ‘what’s hot’ in Roman cuisine. When they are in
season, the artichoke dishes Armando’s son Claudio whips up draw Romans like
honey bees to a field of flowers. Need I say more?
Prices start at: 5 € - Salita de’ Crescenzi
31 – 06/68803034
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| La Campana |
LA CAMPANA
5) La Campana has been around since 1518, making it one of the oldest locandas
in Rome. Located near Piazza Navona, in
the heart of Old Rome, the classic Roman dishes on it’s menu include offerings
from their private vegetable garden. It was one of Caravaggio’s favorite
eateries, back in the day when it was owned by Pietro la Campana.
Prices start at: 6 € - vincolo della Campana
18 – 06/6867820
