Some dry the artichoke in summer, and in winter, after soaking it in water, etc., put it in sauces and ragouts. The French artichoke has a nice, particular flavour, but it is always a laborious dish. The esteem in which it is held by many persons seems to us to be mainly the result of tradi- tion; its price in the English markets makes it a fancy article, as it is of inconsiderable nutritive value, but a source of amusement to the person plucking and sucking leaf after leaf, and fiuisliing with the bonne-bouche of the bottom. ARTICHOKES 325 Aristotle reports that the flowers forming the inner part of the artichoke curdle milk. We have tested this, and found it correct. The ferment acts like rennet, the ferment of the sucking calf’s stomach, and the product is the yourt — syn. yaourt, or giayourt, of the Eastern nations. A little of this yourt put into somewhat condensed fresh milk standing in a warm place transforms it also into yourt. This curdled milk, or curd [for it draws no whey in its early stages, and none at all if the milk be properly concentrated naturally, or reduced by heat to a proper consistency, as is pre- scribed by Greek recipes which we have perused], is very agreeable to eat with a spoon, and very digestible. It was used by the Tuscans like rennet for curdling milk, with a view to making cheese of the curds. The name of artichoke, with explanatory additions, is applied to a number of other plants, some of which are botanically related to Cynara, while others are not. Thus, Indian artichoke is one of the names of the batata, Convol- vulus batata, L. ; earth artichoke, or girasol artichoke, cor- rupted into Jerusalem artichoke, is one of the names of Ilelianthus tuberosus, L., the tubers of which resemble the Cynara in taste. This plant comes from Brazil, and has no relation to any part of the Levant, and its true name is topinambur. By the production of a number of varieties, white, green, violet, red, sweet, large and small, the Cynara has become acclimatized over a much larger area than was occupied by its original form. The small artichoke, called by the French artichatU d la poivradc, is eaten raw, and, as the expression indicates, with sharp sauce. From many preparations of artichokes mentioned in culinary literature we select only those which have met with wider acceptation. Artichokes with Sauce is the most frequently used dish. The dressed heads should be boiled in salt water, and those who wish to preserve their green 326 THE SPIRIT OF COOKE RY colour should suspend in the water a little hag containing woodash, equal in size to a hen’s egg, or should dissolve in it a pinch of carbonate of potash✪ Artichokes with Sauce. The central flowers, the aggregate of which is called ‘ hay,’ are removed, after the boiling and immersion in cold water, with the blunt end of the handle of a small spoon. The artichoke tops are then again heated in the salt water, sent to table on a napkin, and served with white, blonde, or Dutch sauce.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Some dry the artichoke in summer, and in winter, after soaking it in water, etc., put it in sauces and ragouts. The French artichoke has a nice, particular flavour, but it is always a laborious dish. The esteem in which it is held by many persons seems to us to be mainly the result of tradition; its price in the English markets makes it a fancy article, as it is of inconsiderable nutritive value, but a source of amusement to the person plucking and sucking leaf after leaf, and finishing with the bonne bouche of the bottom. ARTICHOKES Aristotle reports that the flowers forming the inner part of the artichoke curdle milk. We have tested this, and found it correct. The ferment acts like rennet, the ferment of the sucking calf’s stomach, and the product is the yourt — syn. yaourt, or giayourt, of the Eastern nations. A little of this yourt put into somewhat condensed fresh milk standing in a warm place transforms it also into yourt. This curdled milk, or curd [for it draws no whey in its early stages, and none at all if the milk be properly concentrated naturally, or reduced by heat to a proper consistency, as is prescribed by Greek recipes which we have perused], is very agreeable to eat with a spoon, and very digestible. It was used by the Tuscans like rennet for curdling milk, with a view to making cheese of the curds. The name of artichoke, with explanatory additions, is applied to a number of other plants, some of which are botanically related to Cynara, while others are not. Thus, Indian artichoke is one of the names of the batata, Convolvulus batata, L. ; earth artichoke, or girasol artichoke, corrupted into Jerusalem artichoke, is one of the names of Helianthus tuberosus, L., the tubers of which resemble the Cynara in taste. This plant comes from Brazil, and has no relation to any part of the Levant, and its true name is topinambur. By the production of a number of varieties, white, green, violet, red, sweet, large and small, the Cynara has become acclimatized over a much larger area than was occupied by its original form. The small artichoke, called by the French artichauts à la poivrade, is eaten raw, and, as the expression indicates, with sharp sauce. From many preparations of artichokes mentioned in culinary literature we select only those which have met with wider acceptation. Artichokes with Sauce is the most frequently used dish. The dressed heads should be boiled in salt water, and those who wish to preserve their green colour should suspend in the water a little bag containing woodash, equal in size to a hen’s egg, or should dissolve in it a pinch of carbonate of potash. The central flowers, the aggregate of which is called ‘ hay,’ are removed, after the boiling and immersion in cold water, with the blunt end of the handle of a small spoon. The artichoke tops are then again heated in the salt water, sent to table on a napkin, and served with white, blonde, or Dutch sauce.

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Artichokes with Sauce

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