organic artichoke

Hello Friends,

What an incredible rain. A gift.

Every time I think that this is last rain, and then we get another Last but not least. What fun.

This week we should be recieving green coconuts! Mulberries of many kinds, cherries, raspberries, Pitango, Grape leaves. Summer is here and some summer prices accordingly - butternut squash, watermelon, Sweet bite peppers ...

Dear Recipients of baskets, you should take a look! Here is an explanation of how to do it, if it is your first time. You are of course welcome to contact me or Danielle that helps me in the office (what fun), we will be happy to help.

CERTIFIED ORGANIC ARTICHOKE!

It is so pleasant and reassuring to receive a vegetable in its season, year after year!
We are always proud to say that we live in a country which boasts of highly advanced agricultural technologies. However, sometimes we encounter vegetables and fruits that we did not manage to "cultivate"; they do not grow out of season and you cannot store them for use year round. So, precisely because we are proud of our progressive agriculture, it gives me a reassuring sense that something more important still does its job. Nature (or maybe you call it the world ...) is still with us, it has power and it knows best ... Just don't disturb it too much...
The artichoke season, Canras in Hebrew and Cynara in Latin, lasts from November to May. The months of March and April are the peak.
This latest crazy weather made it a bit hard for it to do exactly what we would like it to do. Some flowered early, some didn't reach as big a size as we would like..
Artichoke is a perennial spiny shrub (a single plant growing in the ground all year), to a height of 1.5 - 2 meters, belonging to the compositae family. It typically reproduces by shoots or wickers, which are small plants growing adjacent to the mother plant. They are separated from the mother plant and then planted individually in order to create another plant.
An artichoke's edible part is its premature flower bud.

If this bud continues to grow it will look like this:

Do not be deceived by its forbidding appearance. Artichoke in my opinion could be a better choice than the sabra (tsabar) to describe Israelis. The massive size and thorny structure hide a content that is soft, tasty and very rich in terms of health.
ORIGINS
The artichoke is native to Ethiopia, then migrated to Egypt and from there went to all the Mediterranean countries.
It is mentioned in the sources: Genesis Rabbah, 23: " וקוץ ודרדר תצמיח לך ואכלת את עשב השדה, קוץ זה קינרס..."
Greek mythology tells of Zeus, king of the Gods and fond of women, who went to the beach of the island Zinnery to meet his brother Poseidon, God of the sea. At the beach Zeus saw Chinera, a beautiful local girl collecting shells on the beach. Zeus began courting her and won her heart and brought her to Mount Olympus where she was greeted with love, fame and the status of a Goddess! But it was not long before she missed her little village, her family, her island and the sea. She escaped for a short visit to hug her parents, despite the opposition of Zeus. Zeus was so angry that when she returned he brought her back to her village, but in the form of a thorny bush, bitter and ugly. He turned her into an artichoke bush or in the latin name, Cynara.
The Spanish settlers brought artichokes to America and it took a place of honor in Kasterville California, on the West Coast, where growers now supply about 80 percent of all artichokes to the United States. That's a lot of artichokes!

HEALTH
The leaves of artichokes contain many active substances. In Egypt, ancient Rome and Greece they used Artichoke leaves to treat digestive problems, jaundice, rheumatic diseases, urinary tract stones and more.
Nowadays artichoke leaves are known to increase digestion and enhance the absorption processes; to help the liver in neutralizing toxins and treating various liver diseases; to prevent Biliary tract obstructions and to reduce cholesterol, sugar and lipids in the blood; and more ....
THE BOTTOM LINE! WHAT DO WE DO WITH IT?
To store an artichoke, spray some water on it and put it in a bag in the fridge.
When the time comes that you are ready to eat it, how is it done?
When eating artichokes we usually enjoy the taste as well as the long encounter during the meal. It is a form of family "occupational therapy", carried out by tearing and nibbling, tearing and nibbling...
I cook the entire artichoke flower bud in water with the petals intact. You know it is ready when you tear off a petal and taste it, and its base is soft and ready to eat. (Do not test the most external petals, as they remain hard and very bitter.) Our very favorite sauce is olive oil, garlic, lemon and honey. Heat a pan on a low low low flame and add the ingredients in that order in amounts according to your taste.
My father always says that the artichoke is the only vegetable that takes up more room on the plate after we eat it - because of the many petals left for the compost.
Want to get to the heart of things - to expose the uncooked artichoke heart:
"How to clean an artichoke, by Chef Rafi Cohen, Raphael Restaurant
Before peeling artichokes prepare a small serrated knife, a small sharp knife, a soup spoon, a few halved lemons and a bowl with cold water and a little lemon juice.
Simple operation: Place the artichokes on a steady cutting board. With the serrated knife cut a thin layer around the perimeter and remove the petals with your hands. Repeat until you remove most of the petals and get to the heart. After the heart is exposed, separate with a knife between the immature petal residues and the heart (ie, remove the cone created by the immature petals). Slightly shorten the stem and peel it carefully. Scrub the heart well with a half lemon and place it into the bowl of water. (Artichoke turns black when in contact with oxygen in the air.)
Using the soup spoon, remove the thorns that fill the concavity of the heart. Scrub it again with half a lemon and return it to the bowl to be kept until used.
RECIPES:
Fresh artichoke Carpaccio , by Michal Waxman, YNET

Artichoke pickled in lemon ,by Michal Waxman, YNET

With hopes that we get to the heart of things,

Have a good week,
Maggie

Now it seems we can expect in our organic baskets
Artichokes
Cucumbers
Tomatoes
Lettuce
Parsley
Ramiro peppers
Open Cabbage
Little Potatoes

Swiss Chard

A bunch of Turnip please use the leaves

Carrots

Larger ones also
Celery Small
Beets
Coriander
And butternut squash

Fruit baskets
Bananas
Oranges
And Melon or Mini Watermelon