#3: Roman-Jewish Fried Artichokes (Carciofi alla Giudia)
4 Things That Spark Joy a.k.a. Sh*t That Makes Me Happy:
#3: Roman-Jewish Fried Artichokes (Carciofi alla Giudia)
I decided in my 44th year and in light of the fact that we are all (still) looking for things to spark joy in our lives to gather 44 things I’ve found along the way this past year and share them.
I've had a long time love affair with artichokes. It is arguably one of my top 5 favorite foods and always has been. I wouldn't say I would refuse a dessert in place of an artichoke but I do really love artichokes so I guess it would depend on the dessert. I can’t say I’ve ever met an artichoke that I didn’t like. Grilled, steamed, boiled, marinated, in tempura, in a casserole, on a salad, as a side dish, in a soup or as a main dish. They are all good. My bestie has often teased me that if we go to a restaurant and I find a dish that includes artichoke on the menu I will probably order it no matter what it comes with. There’s a recipe from an old Sunset Magazine Cookbook called “Chicken Mushroom Artichoke Casserole” has been a family favorite of ours - mostly because of the artichokes. This casserole was made lovingly as the main dish for many birthday and special occasion dinners over the years in our family. To this day, my mom still made it the best out of any of us and we can’t duplicate it exactly as she made it even with the original copy of the recipe in hand. It’s one of the many reasons I really miss her being able to cook.
I am always amazed when I come across a person that's never tried an artichoke. Like how is that possible? I guess they are a bit intimidating but for my family who hails from the land where some really delicious artichokes are grown (Half Moon Bay) – we were given the advantage of loving these from birth. To make our family even more weird, we are the ones that say “hold the mayonnaise!” as the standard dipping sauce like most other Americans use because we eat our artichokes with lemon butter. It really is the best way in my opinion. Why would you weigh it down with mayonnaise when you can add the tartness of a lemon and hot warm butter? Everything is better with butter isn’t it?
A couple of months ago my husband started watching a series on CNN – ‘Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy’. He mentioned it to me, recorded it on the DVR and then I finally got around to watching it. The premise of the show is that Stanley Tucci travels through the different regions of the country exploring his own Italian heritage but also dives deep into the lineage of the food in each region. My husband warned me that the Rome episode was going to be MY episode but I had no idea. When I finally saw that episode and I discovered that there was something called a Roman-Jewish fried artichoke I couldn't believe it. It was like the perfect marriage between my Italian heritage on one side, my Jewish heritage on the other with my favorite food being their love child. THIS. This is what I've been waiting for. How could I have not know about this preparation before???
Italy has long been on my list of places to travel to. Having been born into Italian heritage on my mom’s side, grown up with Italian food and as one of the primary cuisines prepared by my mom and having worked for an Italian restaurant for 2 years – it has always intrigued me. When I worked at an Italian restaurant with a very talented chef and owners that had Italian heritage, they regaled their tales of all the trips they had taken to Italy (mostly staying in Rome) and all the food they had eaten. We regularly enjoyed artichokes over our family lunches and the chef even got me to try and learn to love salmon because it came with none other than… yes, artichokes.
With world as it is now, the trip to Italy will have to wait but after seeing the Rome episode of Stanley Tucci’s show, I could not wait to try Carciofi alla Giudia. Until the day comes when I can book that trip to Rome, I am embarking the quest to prepare these little flowers of deliciousness at home. Last weekend we made our first attempt and although we still need to perfect our technique they were pretty damn good. So don’t wait. Find and make Carciofi alla Giudia. Buon appetito!