Myth, history, and tradition of the Artichoke

Published on April 17, 2018 - Cosmetics

In spring, we enter in the midst of Artichoke season, and it is during the Easter festivities, and beyond, that this delicious vegetable takes center stage on Italian tables.

This plant constitutes one of the finest conquests of herbal medicine, but this splendid gift of Nature is certainly not a recent discovery, and if it is extensively used today, it is merely continuing a tradition that dates back centuries upon centuries: Theophrastus dedicated verses to it, extolling its precious virtues, and Pliny echoed him, recalling that the Artichoke was one of the favorite vegetables of the most refined gourmets of the time.

Its scientific name is Cynara scolymus, and it is associated with a poetic legend from classical mythology that sees the Artichoke as the incarnation of a Nymph.

This legend tells of the beautiful Cynara, a nymph with ash-colored hair, rosy skin, and green eyes with rare violet shades. Although she had a good nature and a kind heart, Cynara was a proud and capricious maiden. So when the almighty Zeus, father of the gods, began to court her, she refused him.

Naturally, Zeus did not give up, and after numerous attempts, he realized that Cynara would never succumb to his flattery. Zeus considered it unacceptable for a nymph to reject the courtship of the king of the gods, so in a fit of anger, he decided to transform the maiden into a vegetable that somehow resembled her. It had to be green, thorny, and rigid on the outside, just as Cynara’s character was proud and capricious, but inside it had to harbor a tender and sweet heart, like the girl’s soul, and it had to have a purple color, like her eyes.

The story is clear…

The Artichoke has Middle Eastern origins and was already known in the time of the Egyptians for both medicinal and culinary purposes. Its arrival in Italy is attributed to the Etruscans, and numerous depictions of Artichoke leaves on capitals and bas-reliefs in Egyptian and oriental temples testify to this. Around the year 1000, the Arabs discovered it in Sicily and developed a new variety, which they brought to Spain. The modern name comes from the Arabic ‘karshuf’. In 1466, Filippo Strozzi brought the Artichoke from Naples to Florence, and Catherine de ‘Medici introduced it to France (the queen was fond of Artichoke hearts) when she married Henry II of France.

Moving on to modern times…

Castroville in California has been known since the early 1900s for its Artichoke production, and for this reason, it is the site of an annual Artichoke Festival. During the first edition of the event in 1947, the young and then unknown Marilyn Monroe was elected the beauty queen, Queen of Artichoke, who later became an internationally famous actress.

A typically Mediterranean vegetable, the Artichoke is a pride of our country, which is one of its largest cultivators.

Belonging to the Asteraceae family, the Artichoke is a perennial herbaceous plant with a robust rhizome from which basal leaves emerge, green and sparsely hairy on top, white and tomentose on the underside. The inflorescence is simple; the flowers, blue in color, are clustered in capitula. The fruit is an oval achene.

The leaves are harvested in April-May, before flowering, by cutting them at the base. The rhizome, with its fleshy roots, is harvested in July-August.

How is it preserved?

The leaves are dried in the shade in a thin layer, while the roots and rhizomes are dried in the sun. The leaves are stored in paper or cloth sacks, while the roots and rhizomes are stored in glass containers.

The Artichoke boasts numerous healing properties…

In the herbal and medicinal use of the Artichoke, it is not the tasty floral part that is used, but the true leaf itself, which is discarded in cooking. The Artichoke is recognized for its properties to stimulate diuresis, lower cholesterol levels in the blood, promote bile secretion, and protect and detoxify the liver. This combination of beneficial properties also has, indirectly, a good aesthetic effect, as the detoxifying action of the Artichoke helps to keep the skin healthy and luminous. The roots are useful as digestive and diuretic agents.

Tips from the herbalist. Let’s conclude with some “do-it-yourself” remedies.

For the treatment of gallstones: In a quarter of water, add a teaspoon of Artichoke leaves and cover. Filter after 10 minutes and drink one cup in the morning on an empty stomach and one in the evening before bed, with a teaspoon of dandelion honey.

Against anemia: Pour two teaspoons of Artichoke leaves into half a liter of hot water and boil for 5 minutes. Strain and drink a cup of tea immediately after meals, sweetened with honey or molasses.

For a good diuretic treatment: In half a liter of cold water, add 2 tablespoons of Artichoke roots and boil for 10 minutes over low heat. Strain, sweeten with a little honey, and sip throughout the day. This treatment should be continued for at least 20 days.

For cosmetic use: With the softer inner part, you can prepare a beauty mask. Remove the outer, harder parts of the Artichoke and blend it with a little lemon juice until you get a soft paste to apply on the face (excluding the periocular area), leaving it on for about twenty minutes. This mask brightens the complexion and makes the skin firmer and more elastic.

Let’s conclude with a culinary recipe…

Natural artichokes

Ingredients:

– Artichokes

– lemon

– salt

– peppercorns

– bay leaf

Procedure:

Clean the Artichokes and place them in a bowl containing warm water acidulated with lemon juice. Drain them and place them in jars, pressing them slightly to fit as many as possible. Flavor with a few bay leaves and some peppercorns, then completely cover them with boiled and salted water and seal the jars tightly. Place them in a pot, insulating them with towels and rags, completely cover them with cold water, turn on the heat, and boil for an hour, then let the jars cool in the same sterilization container.