How to reach the heart of the artichoke
How many shoppers go beyond spinach and artichoke dip — and actually buy the whole, fresh artichoke?
Artichokes can be a grocery item for experienced or adventurous cooks. Or cooks with a cultural or family connection to the artichoke.
Because fresh artichokes aren’t easy.
“We call it a vegetable, but actually it is the flower bud of a thistle. And I mean, really, who would ever think to eat a thistle? But there it is, and people have, for millennia,” wrote David Tanis, author of the "Heart of the Artichoke" cookbook.
Artichokes don’t make the top 20 list on The Packer’s Fresh Trends reports, finding that only 10% of customers purchased artichokes within the past year.
We’ve got some work to do. It’s not all on the artichoke growers.
Learn on PMG: All about artichokes
The consumer’s reluctance likely has to do with how much work is required in preparing — and often, eating — an artichoke. They may opt for the jarred, canned or frozen artichoke hearts to skip all that effort.
Yes, you should place some value-added artichoke options in your produce department. But we’re here to push fresh, which we know is best.
We have to understand the basic rules of prepping this flower in order to convince shoppers to do it.
For instance, once you buy a whole artichoke, there’s a bunch of blade action, with scissors and serrated knives:
- Snip off the thorny tips of the outer leaves.
- Slice off almost an inch from the top of the artichoke.
- Peel away the outer leaves at the base and stem.
- Cut off excess stem, leaving about an inch intact.
You can steam, boil and roast it, among other cooking methods. Many people serve the artichoke somewhat intact alongside a dip. You pull off a leaf, dip and scrape the tender meat from the leaf with your teeth, tossing the woody leaf leftovers.
The most delicious, tender and sweet part that’s entirely edible is deep inside the artichoke, called the artichoke heart. And like all things with tough exteriors, the softness within is worth the work.
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