Artichoke

This vegetable grows to 1.4–2 m (4.6–6.6 ft) tall, with arching, deeply lobed, silvery, glaucous-green leaves 50–83 cm (20–33 in) long. The flowers develop in a large head from an edible bud about 8–15 cm (3–6 in) diameter with numerous triangular scales; the individual florets are purple. The edible portions of the buds consist primarily of the fleshy lower portions of the involucral bracts and the base, known as the "heart"; the mass of immature florets in the center of the bud is called the "choke" or beard. These are inedible in older, larger flowers.

The English word artichoke was borrowed in the sixteenth century from the northern Italian word articiocco (the standard modern Italian being carciofo). The Italian term was itself borrowed either from Spanish alcarchofa (today usually alcachofa) or directly from the source of the Spanish word — medieval Andalusi Arabic الخرشوفة (al-kharshūfa, including the Arabic definite article al). The Arabic form kharshūfa is still used in Maghrebi Arabic today, while other variants in Arabic include kharshafa, khurshūfa, and Modern Standard Arabic khurshūfa. These Arabic forms themselves derive from classical Arabic حرشفة (ḥarshafa), but the origins of that word are not clear.[5][6] Other languages which derive their word for the artichoke from Arabic include Israeli Hebrew, which has the word חֻרְשָׁף (khursháf).

Despite being borrowed from Arabic, European terms for the artichoke have in turn influenced Arabic in their own right. For example, the modern Levantine Arabic term for artichoke is أرضي شوكي (ʔarḍī shawkī). This literally means "earthy thorny", and is an Arabicisation (through phono-semantic matching) of the English word artichoke or other European terms like it.[7][8]^:213-214

As in the case of Levantine Arabic ʔarḍī shawkī, names for the artichoke have frequently changed form due to folk etymology and phono-semantic matching. The Italian form articiocco seems to have been adapted to correspond to Italian arci- ("arch-, chief") and ciocco ("stump"). Forms of the French word artichaut (which also derives from Arabic, possibly via Spanish) have over the years included artichaud (corresponding to chaud, "warm") and artihault (corresponding to haut, "height"). Forms found in English have included hartichoak, corresponding to heart and choke, provoking elaborate explanations about the power of the vegetable to choke its eaters or to take over a garden, 'choaking' other plants.[5][7]

The artichoke is a domesticated variety of the wild cardoon (Cynara cardunculus),[9] which is native to the Mediterranean area.[1] There is rather vexed debate over whether the artichoke was a food among the ancient Greeks and Romans, or whether that cultivar was developed later, with Classical sources referring instead to the wild cardoon.[10][11] The cardoon is mentioned as a garden plant in the 8th century BCE by Homer and Hesiod. Pliny the Elder mentioned growing of 'carduus' in Carthage and Cordoba.[12] In North Africa, where it is still found in the wild state, the seeds of artichokes, probably cultivated, were found during the excavation of Roman-period Mons Claudianus in Egypt.[13] Varieties of artichokes were cultivated in Sicily beginning in the classical period of the ancient Greeks; the Greeks calling them kaktos. In that period, the Greeks ate the leaves and flower heads, which cultivation had already improved from the wild form. The Romans called the vegetable carduus (hence the name cardoon). Further improvement in the cultivated form appears to have taken place in the medieval period in Muslim Spain and the Maghreb, although the evidence is inferential only.[14] By the twelfth century, it was being mentioned in the compendious guide to farming composed by Ibn al-'Awwam in Seville (though it does not appear in earlier major Andalucian Arabic works on agriculture), and in Germany by Hildegard von Bingen.[15]

Le Roy Ladurie, in his book Les Paysans de Languedoc, has documented the spread of artichoke cultivation in Italy and southern France in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, when the artichoke appeared as a new arrival with a new name, which may be taken to indicate an arrival of an improved cultivated variety:

The blossom of the thistle, improved by the Arabs, passed from Naples to Florence in 1466, carried by Filippo Strozzi. Towards 1480 it is noticed in Venice, as a curiosity. But very soon veers towards the northwest...Artichoke beds are mentioned in Avignon by the notaries from 1532 onward; from the principle [sic] towns they spread into the hinterlands ... appearing as carchofas at Cavaillon in 1541, at Chateauneuf du Pape in 1553, at Orange in 1554. The local name remains carchofas, from the Italian carciofo ... They are very small, the size of a hen's egg ... and are still considered a luxury, a vaguely aphrodisiac tidbit that one preserved in sugar syrup.[16]

The Dutch introduced artichokes to England, where they grew in Henry VIII's garden at Newhall in 1530. They were taken to the United States in the 19th century—to Louisiana by French immigrants and to California by Spanish immigrants.

Artichoke head with flower in bloom

Artichokes for sale

Today, cultivation of the globe artichoke is concentrated in the countries bordering the Mediterranean basin. The main European producers are Italy, Spain, and France and the main American producers are Argentina, Peru and the United States. In the United States, California provides nearly 100% of the U.S. crop, with about 80% of that being grown in Monterey County; there, Castroville proclaims itself to be "The Artichoke Center of the World" and holds the annual Castroville Artichoke Festival. More recently, artichokes have been grown in South Africa in a small town called Parys, located along the Vaal River.

Top 12 globe artichoke producers in 2017

Country	Production (tonnes)	Footnote
Italy	387,803
Spain	223,150
Egypt	185,695	Im
Peru	145,068
Argentina	108,683	Im
Algeria	108,560
China	87,968	Im
Morocco	45,457
United States	42,456
France	41,940	Im
Turkey	38,431
Tunisia	32,000
World	1,505,331	A
* = Unofficial figure | [ ] = Official data | A = May include official, semi-official or estimated data F = FAO estimate | Im = FAO data based on imputation methodology | M = Data not available Source: UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)[17]

Artichoke output in 2005

Artichokes can be produced from seeds or from vegetative means such as division, root cuttings, or micropropagation. Although technically perennials that normally produce the edible flower during only the second and subsequent years, certain varieties of artichokes can be grown from seed as annuals, producing a limited harvest at the end of the first growing season, even in regions where the plants are not normally winter-hardy. This means home gardeners in northern regions can attempt to produce a crop without the need to overwinter plants with special treatment or protection. The seed cultivar 'Imperial Star' has been bred to produce in the first year without such measures. An even newer cultivar, 'Northern Star', is said to be able to overwinter in more northerly climates, and readily survives subzero temperatures.[18]

Commercial culture is limited to warm areas in USDA hardiness zone 7 and above. It requires good soil, regular watering and feeding, and frost protection in winter. Rooted suckers can be planted each year, so mature specimens can be disposed of after a few years, as each individual plant lives only a few years. The peak season for artichoke harvesting is the spring, but they can continue to be harvested throughout the summer, with another peak period in midautumn.

When harvested, they are cut from the plant so as to leave an inch or two of stem. Artichokes possess good keeping qualities, frequently remaining quite fresh for two weeks or longer under average retail conditions.

Apart from culinary applications, the globe artichoke is also an attractive plant for its bright floral display, sometimes grown in herbaceous borders for its bold foliage and large, purple flower heads.

• Media related to Cynara scolymus at Wikimedia Commons
• Artichoke at Wikibook Cookbooks
• Artichoke Cooking Soups and Stews Links at Curlie
• Artichoke Cooking Links at Curlie
• Ode to the Artichoke, by Pablo Neruda