To stuff or not to stuff? More than you ever wanted to know about Artichokes.
Welcome to our blog post about the history of New Orleans' Okra File Gumbo. New Orleans is a melting pot of cultures, just like its cuisine... Being a native of New Orleans, when I became Vegan I really missed all of my old favorites like Gumbo, Poboys, Stuffed Artichokes, Oyster Dressing, and so many other fabulous dishes. In researching how to re-create them into Vegan options, I started learning about the history of our New Orleans' Creole + Cajun Cuisines (Yes they are different). Creole derives from when we were under Spanish rule and Cajun derives from when we were under French rule. But actually there is a third + fourth .... African and Choctow cultures as well.... In our blog we will share our unique "melting pot" Heritage and re-create via GRAB n GO Vegan!
Origins of the Artichoke
The Artichoke has been around for thousands of years.
The Artichoke (Cynara Scolymus) has been around for thousands of years. Today, artichokes are generally grown in Southern Italy and Sicily. Sicilian artichokes are very tender, and are often roasted over hot coals on the ground and eaten just like that.
Historians cannot agree if it was originally cultivated by the Romans or Greeks, but also used by the North Africans and what is today Syria. Artichokes most likely were introduced to the rest of Europe through Sicily in the 12th Century.
Catherine de Medici married Louis of France and moved to Paris in the 14th Century, is said to have brought artichokes, (and as most culinary-oriented people know, along wtih many other favorites which is how modern French cuisine got its ‘start’). However, because of its mythological origin, women seen eating artichokes were considered promiscuous since they were considered an aphrodisiac.
The globe artichoke, also called “French artichoke” and “green artichoke,” derives its common name from the northern Italian words articiocco and articoclos. This latter term is supposed to come from the Ligurian word cocali, meaning a pine cone.
Artichokes Today
The artichoke is a perennial in the thistle group of the sunflower family and is believed to be a native of the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands. In full growth, the plant spreads to cover an area about six feet in diameter and reaches a height of three to four feet. The “vegetable” that we eat is actually the plant’s flower bud. If allowed to flower, the blossoms measure up to seven inches in diameter and are a beautiful violet-blue color. They are available twelve months a year with the peak season in the spring and fall. There are more than 140 artichoke varieties but less than 40 are grown commercially.
Today most artichokes grown worldwide are cultivated in France, Italy, and Spain, while California provides nearly 100 percent of the United States crop. One hundred percent of all artichokes grown commercially in the United States are grown in California.
Artichoke fields are maintained in perennial culture for five to ten years. Each cropping cycle is initiated by “cutting back” the tops of the plants several inches below the soil surface to stimulate development of new shoots.
History and Legends of Artichokes:
According to an Aegean legend and praised in song by the poet Quintus Horatius Flaccus, the first artichoke was a lovely young girl who lived on the island of Zinari. The god, Zeus was visiting his brother Poseidon one day when, as he emerged from the sea, he spied a beautiful young mortal woman. She did not seem frightened by the presence of a god, and Zeus seized the opportunity to seduce her. He was so pleased with the girl, who’s name was Cynara, that he decided to make her a goddess, so that she could be nearer to his home on Olympia. Cynara agreed to the promotion, and Zeus anticipated the trysts to come, whenever his wife Hera was away. However, Cynara soon missed her mother and grew homesick. She snuck back to the world of mortals for a brief visit. After she returned, Zeus discovered this un-goddess-like behavior. Enraged, he hurled her back to earth and transformed her into the plant we know as the artichoke.
Artichoke origins dates back to the time of the Greek philosopher and naturalist, Theophrastus (371-287 B.C.), who wrote of them being grown in Italy and Sicily.
Pedanius Dioscorides (40-90 A.D.), a 1st century A.D. Greek physician of Anazarbus, Cilicia, wrote about artichokes at the time of Christ. While traveling as a surgeon with the Roman army of Emperor Nero, he collected information on the remedies of the period and wrote a work on The Greek Herbal of Dioscorides. Originally written in Greek, Dioscorides’ herbal was later translated into Latin as De Materia Medica. It remained the authority in medicinal plants for over 1500 years.
Ancient Greeks and Romans considered artichokes a delicacy and an aphrodisiac. In Ancient Greece, the artichoke was attributed to being effective in securing the birth of boys.
In 77 A.D., the Roman naturalist Caius Plinius Secundus, called Pliny the Elder (23–79 A.D.), called the choke “one of the earth’s monstrosities.” Evidently he and his colleagues continued to enjoy eating them. Wealthy Romans enjoyed artichokes prepared in honey and vinegar, seasoned with cumin, so that the treat would be available year round.
Beginning about 800 A.D., North African Moors begin cultivating artichokes in the area of Granada, Spain, and another Arab group, the Saracens, became identified with chokes in Sicily. This may explain why the English word artichoke is derived from the Arab, “al’qarshuf” rather than from the Latin, “cynara.” Between 800 and 1500, it’s probable that the artichoke was improved and transformed, perhaps in monastery gardens, into the plant we would recognize today.
Artichokes were first cultivated at Naples around the middle of the 15th century and gradually spread to other sections of Europe. After Rome fell, artichokes became scarce but re-emerged during the Renaissance in 1466 when the Strozzi family brought them from Florence to Naples.