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Artichokes, The food that's not worth eating

Artichoke (2017-04-01 15-11-43a)

The first time I ever ate artichokes was when I was a kid. My father was out of town and my mother was experimenting on me with new foods. One night she made artichokes. 

They were alright for a vegetable. (I was a kid. Kids don’t like vegetables.) You peeled off a leaf – that might not be the technical term – and use your teeth to scrape off the edible part at the bottom. It was a lot of work for very little reward. Except for one time when I didn’t have a choice in the matter, it was the only time I ever ate one.

Your mileage may vary. Somebody must be eating the things because I’ve never seen a grocery store, apart from a few ethnic ones, that did not carry them. Someone has to be buying the things. I just don’t understand why.

Information on the Photo

The photo was taken at the Jewel-Osco store at 2485 Howard Street, Evanston, Illinois. Yes, I get strange looks when I take pictures in grocery stores.

I used a Nikon Coolpix P7700 camera to take the photo which I then edited with ACDSee Ultimate 10.3. I cropped slightly, then adjusted the lighting and boosted the contrast and saturation.

Photo © 2017 Gary J. Sibio. All rights reserved

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What do you think?

Written by Gary J Sibio

12 Comments

  1. I have had them in restaurants but oddly, I have never actually bought and cooked one. I must rectify that some time. I enjoyed them when I had them eating out. I had artichoke once on a pizza topping and it was really delicious!

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  2. I have to be the first to say I like them. Yes I do. But not cooked from fresh like in the photo. I tried them in a salad at a restaurant once and was hooked. They were kind of pickled in a vinegar and oil sauce, very good as a salad topper. That is the only way I can eat them. Marinated in a jar is how I find them in the store.

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    • It’s not that I didn’t like them. There was just so little there to eat. It sounds like you are eating the entire leaf. When I had them they told me to eat just the little bit on the bottom of the inside of the leaf.

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  3. I had some in the 1980s at dinner in the Scottish Hospice at Jerusalem. They served them boiled and with sugar and vinegarette. It was nice, but it was only an appetiser. I suppose you took a while to eat it and it was different for me.
    No, I wouldn’t cook it myself.

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