{"id":15947,"date":"2019-06-12T12:14:13","date_gmt":"2019-06-12T12:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/devourromefoodtours.com\/?p=3192"},"modified":"2025-02-25T09:38:42","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T09:38:42","slug":"artichokes-rome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devourtours.com\/blog\/artichokes-rome\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the Bite: Artichokes in Rome"},"content":{"rendered":"

When it comes to eating artichokes in Italy, all roads, as ever, lead to Rome.

Artichokes, carciofi<\/em> in Italian, are omnipresent in Rome. You see them bundled up in restaurant windows, piled high in shops, and floating face up in buckets of water in Rome’s many vegetable markets<\/a>. They have a long history in the city and feature in two of the most traditional dishes in Roman cuisine, which you will see on most menus: carciofi alla romana<\/em> and carciofi alla giudia.<\/em><\/p>

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Artichokes…so simple, yet so delicious.<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Carciofo Romanesco<\/h2>

Artichokes are thought to be a domesticated version of the cardoon<\/a>, a vegetable with its roots in the Mediterranean. In ancient times they were cultivated in Sicily, which is where the modern Italian artichoke seems to have gotten its start. They were most likely developed and spread to the rest of Italy during the Arab rule of that island in early medieval times.<\/p>

At some point, a local artichoke variety was developed in the coastal area near Rome. This cultivar became known locally as mammola<\/em> or cimarolo<\/em>. Elsewhere, it’s known as the carciofo romanesco<\/em> (Roman artichoke), in recognition of its origins. Since 2002, romanesco<\/em> artichokes, grown in a defined area, may be sold as Carciofi Romanesco del Lazio IGP<\/em>, the name having protected status within Europe.<\/p>

The romanesco<\/em> artichoke is rounder than other cultivars and is a similar size and shape to a baseball. The outer leaves, or bracts, are softer than those of their cousins and there is no choke, the tough, inedible, fibrous center that most others have. This means that most of the artichoke can be eaten with comparatively little thrown away. As we will see, this has led to them being cooked and eaten whole.<\/p>

The season for romanesco<\/em> artichokes<\/a> is quite short, lasting from February to April. If you eat artichokes in Rome outside this period, you are unlikely to be eating the romanesco<\/em> type, although some will remain in stock through May.<\/p>

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Fresh, seasonal artichokes are a staple of Roman cuisine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n<\/div>

Preparation for cooking<\/h2>

Preparing artichokes for cooking is quite an art. It involves removing the outer bracts and then trimming the rest in a circular fashion until the artichoke looks something like a rose. You then pare the outer skin away from the stem. All the while you have to rub lemon juice on the artichokes to stop them turning brown and, when you have finished, keep them in a mixture of water and lemon juice before cooking.<\/p>

Carciofi alla Giudia<\/h2>

Carciofi alla giudia<\/em>, or Jewish-style artichokes, is a very old way of eating the vegetable which has its origin in the 16th century.<\/p>

In 1555, all Roman Jews were ordered to go and live in a closed ghetto on the banks of the river Tiber, and an extraordinarily rich cuisine<\/a> grew up within its walls. The area is still referred to by many as the Jewish Ghetto<\/a>, though in recent years there’s been a shift towards calling it the Jewish Quarter.<\/p>

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Find where to enjoy an iconic Roman\/Jewish dish, Carciofi alla Giudia<\/p>