4-dimensional artichokes
And the sense of nostos
This is a recipe that connect me with my origins. I learned to love this dish when I was a little kid, when my Italian grandma used to make it and I could smell it from her garden.
Every time I cook it, the 10 thousands Kilometers between me and Italy magically become zero, giving me an actionable four dimensional experience with the coordinates of my house and the span of every time that recipe was made. The sense of smell and taste is able to write deeper in our memory, and reconstructing the premises of that experience trough cooking becomes a time and space machine. This is one of my favorite trips. Let’s go.
Ingredients:
Artichokes
Potatoes
Old bread
Garlic
Salt
Oil
Preparation
30 minutes
Stuffing
Cut the old bread in small pieces, if it’s too dry add some water first.
Add chopped garlic, parsley and a half teaspoon of salt.
Add oil and mix will you get a consistent stuffing.
Add some drops of wine vinegar to enhance freshness.
Artichokes
Clean the artichokes, removing the external petals.
Massage the interior of the artichoke with salt.
Clean and the chop the stems.
Open carefully the artichokes and add the stuffing inside.
Potatoes
Peel the potatoes.
Keep them in water and salt for an hour.
In a pot add one spoon of good olive oil per artichoke.
Place the artichokes.
Fill the spaces with the potatoes so the artichokes won’t break.
Add water and till it reaches half the height of the artichokes.
Cook for 80 minutes on medium fire and pour the liquids on top of the artichokes every 20 minutes, using a baster. When the water is about to get reduced, deglaze with dry white wine.
Once the potatoes have absorbed all the amazing artichokes’ liquids, take them out of the pot and mash them, adding the stems. At this point taste the potatoes and add salt till it gets pleasant to eat.
Plating
In a plate add a first layer of mashed potatoes using a round shape.
Add one artichoke on the potatoe layer. Add a nice and fresh olive oil.
Note
Destructured potatoes
My grandma used to keep potatoes without mashing them. She was so good at managing salt, and I never really nail it. To avoid issues, I mash them and then fix the salt, this solution also opens to a more interesting interaction with the dish.
Dish experience
The column layout of the plating suggests the order of components to enjoy. We’re talking about artichokes so the petals are the protagonists. Who likes to eat seriously eats with the hands, so petals can be enjoyed one by one. The external petals might be a little hard, but if you slide them between your teeth, a delicious pulp will come out. The remainders of the petals can be deposited aside at the edge of the plate.
Once petals are over, the stuffing comes out in all its splendor. From here you can have fun with the spoon. The stuffing and the mashed potatoes are flavored with the artichoke juices and it’s such a pleasure.
Enjoy the trip back home.
