What are Artichokes?
(“Carciofi” – “Cacocciuli”)
Artichokes grow abundantly in Sicily, especially in the North-West part of the Island.
The artichokes are perennial plants and usually they deliver a crop in late summer and one in late autumn. The artichokes were called kinara by the Greeks and cynara by the Romans until the Arab invasion of Sicily, when the name was changed to al kharshuf, in Italian “il carciofo”.
In the United States, artichokes are mostly cultivated in California and around the city of Castroville. There are vast plantations of this vegetable so big that they stretch from one side of the horizon to the opposite side, with such a huge production that they are able to supply the American markets and the processing plants all year around.
The varieties of the artichokes are set by the wet or dry weather, by the humidity and by the intensity of the clouds.
The “Verdi di Palermo”, a variety of pointed shaped artichoke, with hard thorns and tender edible parts, is widely grown in Sicily and they are harvested in late autumn.
“Verdi Liguri, Toscani and Veneti” are varieties related to the “Verdi Palermo” and grown respectively in Liguria, Tuscany and in the Venetian fields. Round shaped artichokes called “domestichi” are harvested in late spring and in Sicily, they are the preferred quality by the housewives.
In late spring the “mammole” globe shaped artichokes are harvested in the area of Catania. They are tender, light in color and pulpy. The romaneschi is another well known variety with similar characteristics and grown around Rome.
The climate in the Central Coast of California, around Castroville makes it possible for us to enjoy the round tender and pulpy artichokes in the spring and the conical shaped, purplish flower of the chokes in autumn and winter.
Artichokes are very versatile, perfect for a snack, a side dish, to make stuffed, to barbeque or to fry, cook in a thousand ways or to simple boil and eat the leaves one at a time by holding the base between your teeth and pulling the leaf out, scrapping the leaf with your teeth and eating the pulpy part. The edible part of the leaves can be eaten plain or dipped in olive oil mixed with vinegar, salt and pepper. Boiled artichokes are the easiest way to cook them: simple, effortless and delicious. 
Generally all cooks use the same basic ingredients but by adding a different component, mostly abundant in the area, it can transform and enhance the taste of the artichokes to make a difference from the town just a few miles away.
In Sicily there are many ways to cook artichokes. Every town, small or big has recipes or way of cooking them to make this popular vegetable a tasty, delicious and nutritious treat.
They are dipped in various kinds of batters or simply lightly coated with flour and fried. They are sautéed, stewed, made in a frittata or as a condiment for a pasta dish and also in a very favorite and successful way, they are stuffed with various and different fillings.
Artichokes can also be roasted, barbequed, baked, fried, in a salad or attuppati, covered with a mixture of breadcrumbs, eggs, herbs, pinoli, raisins and cooked in a light tomato sauce.
At Joe’s, our Sicilian eatery, La Focacceria Palermitana, most of the time we cooked the artichokes with a stuffing made of breadcrumbs, cheese, herbs, spices and salted anchovies or just with parsley and garlic; at times we baked them “alla viddanedda”, country style or sautéed with garlic to serve as a side dish, or as a condiment for a pasta dish or to make a delicious frittata.
Artichokes have good taste and can be prepared in advance and heated in the oven at the last minute, to compliment a simple dinner or a sumptuous banquet.
