Summer artichokes

I don't know about you but Globe Artichokes have always been a bit of a mystery to me. Not that they have come up in conversation much in the circles I mix in but if they have I have been slightly in awe of anyone who knows what they are and hugely in awe if they have cooked and eaten one. I have been even more impressed if they have known which parts you eat and how?

Last year we bought two plants and popped them in the garden. This year we have magnificent architectural artichokes. The buds are absolutely amazing and a beauty to behold. In the build up to one being ready I bought a jar of artichokes to sample. We liked.

We looked on the internet to discover when we should pick. And after some prevarication we did duly pick. By coincidence I watched a chef on TV cook an artichoke the other month so felt a little bit more confident as to how to go about cooking it and which bits to eat.

Today we cooked it and ate it. It was very enjoyable. Not much to eat from one small globe but heck we'd grown it so it was wonderful. We chewed on the cactus-like leaves and savoured the internal choke. I did manage to boil a little caterpillar in the process so apologies to all multi-legged, long bodied creatures but it was all a lovely summer in the garden experience.