Artichokes

Rome is like an artichoke, tear back one layer, and reveal another. Over the course of the millennia, Romans mastered the art of the artichoke. Carciofi alla Romana are available in grocery stores and delis across the country, pared down to the tender core and braised until soft in olive oil bath – the Roman touch, is the handful of chopped mint added to the oil. While this dish takes the name of its hometown, it is the other artichoke dish, Carciofi alla Giudea, (Jewish-style Artichokes) which has captivated and inspired Romans and visitors of all types. Unsurprisingly, it was a dish invented by necessity by the Jews in the Roman Ghetto.While the dish jumped all religious boundaries and was adopted by Romans of all sorts, sadly it has stayed roughly within the city confines, perhaps in part because it requires the special type of large round artichoke indigenous to the region. That artichoke, when smashed flat and fried until golden and crisp, becomes a dish worthy of devotion; the outer leaves becoming shatteringly crisp artichoke “chips” which support a hot tender core.

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