John Mowry, age 13, of Santa Rosa, Calif., for his question:
HOW DO YOU EAT AN ARTICHOKE?
An artichoke is a thistlelike table vegetable that is considered to be a pleasing dining delicacy. Some regard eating the artichoke as a true gourmet dining experience. If you've never eaten one, however, it takes a bit of learning to master the assignment.
After cooking the artichoke, it becomes an interesting finger food. Each stiff outer leaf is pulled off, one at a time, and the fleshy end is dipped into a sauce or mayonnaise. Then the leaf is drawn through your front teeth. You scrape off the edible part as you pull it through your teeth.
After each pull, the leaf is discarded and a new one is pulled off of the artichoke. You continue to pull off leaves until you come to a purple cone of light colored leaves. These are cut out and discarded.
After the small final leaves are trimmed away, you have the delicious artichoke heart, which you also can dip into the sauce before you eat it.
Inquisitive Arabs centuries ago discovered that certain thistles were good to eat. These, of course, were the artichokes. By the 15th Century they were being cultivated in Italy and enjoyed there on a limited basis.
It wasn't long, however, until the artichoke was being grown and eaten across Europe. French settlers finally took it to the United States, where it was at first grown in Louisiana. The Spanish then took the vegetable to California.
Today on more than 10,000 acres of land south of San Francisco all around the town of Castroville, artichokes grow. The town is called the "Artichoke Capital of the World."
To cook the artichokes, first wash them and cut the stems off at the base. The top tips of the leaves are cut off about one inch from the top. The artichokes then stand upright in a deep saucepan, are covered with water and are boiled gently for 30 to 45 minutes. Test by piercing the bottoms with a fork. Take them out of the water and drain. They are now ready to serve.
Some people place artichokes upside down in a steamer and then cook them that way for from 45 to 60 minutes. Four can also be put into a glass casserole with one half cup of water and then cooked on high for 15 minutes.
Artichokes can be found in many markets the year around. The peak of the season, however, is during April and May. Also, one variety comes to market each year from November through March. Those sometimes have bronze tipped outer leaves that turn that color because of frost. They are a type that mature more slowly than those that come to market later in the spring.
An artichoke plant grows to be between two and three feet tall. It has large, prickly leaves. We actually eat the flower bud. The plant lives for about four years. New plants grow out from the sides of older plants.
The Jerusalem artichoke is closely related to the sunflower. It grows from five to 12 feet tall. It has yellow flowers that bloom in she fall. Its potato like roots are used as food.