Carciofi Giudia. Artichokes Jewish style. WARNING. DO NOT TRY THIS RECIPE AT HOME.

Artichokes, or carciofi, The small ones at the bottom are trimmed, ready to cook.

Artichokes are in season, beautiful and abundant.  The area around Rome is known for growing good ones. Romans love them; us too.  We are especially fond of  the Jewish preparation which is deep-fried, salted.  Some wonderful restaurants in the Jewish Ghetto specialize in the dish.  It is offered elsewhere too, either "alla Guidia" or "alla Romana," which is steamed with olive oil and lemon.

Carciofi Guidia served at Ba Ghetto restaurant in Rome.

So, we could not resist giving it a try.  The tourist info point had recipes; it seemed clear what to do.  The man who sells us our produce trimmed them carefully, gave instructions.  What could go wrong?  Ha!  The recipe should have had a warning across the top: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME.

Well, Italians could probably do it.  It seems that every single one of them over the age of 3 is an excellent cook; they have a natural feel for the process.  We--well we are trying.

We have eaten these delights in several places.  First time, we did not know what to do but it was a slow Monday in winter and the waiter was helpful.  It turns out to be easy--you just pull off each artichoke petal and crunch it like a potato chip.  Great with local white wine for lunch.

At Home

To prepare the carciofi, start with purchasing.  They are abundant, spilling out of vendor's stalls, beautifully arranged.  Our vendor helped us choose good ones and trimmed them ready for cooking.  We recommend starting with a glass of good wine.

 OK--the recipe is in Italian.  We are fine.  We have been studying.  We have Google translate.  What could go wrong?  Ha!

Survival strategy

Wash the artichokes in lemon water.  Beat them against each other and swing them around to dry them. Drink more wine.

 

Read recipe while pouring in oil.  Lots of oil.  Do personal kitchens have this much oil around?  Doubt creeps in; can we do this?

Doubt allayed.

 Spread the artichoke petals after partial cooking.  The book makes it sound easy.  Ha!

More oil

Yikes.  More wine needed for more courage.

More oil.  Cover the flower part of the artichoke, keeping the stems on so you can lift them out. Fry at high heat until done. (How will we know? Not covered in the instructions.)

End of wine, end of cooking

Our artichokes, ready to eat.  We did our best in the absence of a deep fryer and gallons of oil.  In fact they tasted good.

 





Did we really use every pan in the kitchen?  Did we remember that we have to clean up by ourselves?  Another reason not to try this at home.  What were we thinking?

Story in words and pictures by Julianne.  Cooking by Nancy, who says, "Too much wine is just enough."