What are artichokes and why have they become popular lately? Where did this edible plant come from? Its amazing medicinal properties and rich composition. What happens if you overdo it with a portion of the dish, and how to cook artichokes to make it delicious. Artichoke juice, which enters the body when a raw product is consumed, or is released when preparing a dish, has no less useful properties. It is believed that this liquid is able to help men whose sexual function is impaired or absent. The juice increases desire, increases stamina and strength. It is also recommended to use this product for problems with urination in men, such an unpleasant disease as dropsy, as well as for alcohol poisoning.
Harm and contraindications to the use of artichokes
Despite the huge number of useful properties of the artichoke, its abuse can lead to poisoning, overload of the digestive system, and general weakness and malaise can also occur. In principle, this happens when sorting with any product, but you should know that there are a number of reasons why some people should not eat artichokes at all.
It is forbidden to use artichokes for people with hypotension and gastritis. Also, of course, you cannot eat this product with individual intolerance or allergy to the components.
People with low stomach acidity or low blood pressure should also have a taboo on the use of the product, since artichokes contain enough potassium and calcium salts, which provokes an alkaline effect. And if this is good for a healthy body, then for the above categories of people, neglect of contraindications to artichoke can provoke a deterioration in the condition and even the development of a stomach ulcer. It is also not recommended to use artichoke for pregnant and lactating mothers, as milk production may be impaired, and for people with kidney or gall bladder stones.
Artichoke recipes
Naturally, you can eat artichokes raw, but you can also try cooking them to experience new flavors and treat yourself to something delicious.
Artichoke recipes:
- Boiled artichokes … First, you need to thoroughly rinse 15-20 pieces of artichokes in cold water, then cut off the top of the inflorescences about 3-4 centimeters in size. After the leg of the product is cut off, then the top is separated from each thorn with scissors. All this is done, since the cut parts are not used. After the above manipulations, you need to process the artichokes with the juice of half a lemon and wait 10 minutes. Then you need to pour clean water into a saucepan, add a little lemon juice, spices to taste there and throw the artichokes so that the water covers them completely. It takes about 35-40 minutes to cook the product over medium heat. After that, the artichokes are laid out on a plate and served with any sauce to taste. They can also be added to any salads and as a side dish. They go well with seafood and poultry.
- Stuffed artichokes … Prepared cooked artichokes can be stuffed with meat. To do this, you need, as usual, to boil 15-20 inflorescences, remove the core. Next, you need to take 300 grams of minced pork, fry it in a pan with one grated carrot, half a finely chopped onion and two pinches of salt. After that, the core and the gaps between the feathers of the artichokes are filled with the prepared minced meat. They are left for an hour and a half to soak, and after that the dish can be eaten.
- Artichoke tea … To do this, you need dried inflorescence leaves and ordinary boiling water.1 teaspoon of leaves is poured with 300 ml of boiling water and insisted for about 20 minutes, after which it is filtered and sugar or honey is added to taste.
- Pickled artichokes … Artichokes can also be pickled. To do this, first of all, it is necessary to prepare (rinse, cut off all excess, soak in lemon juice) 20-25 small plant inflorescences. After that, it is worth boiling them and boiling them for 25 minutes in the same lemon juice. Then you need to remove the vegetables from the pan and let them cool down. At this time, you can prepare the marinade. For it, use 1 bunch of finely chopped parsley, 4 cloves of garlic, a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, the juice of half a lemon, a tablespoon of vegetable oil and spices to taste. All ingredients must be mixed to a gel consistency. After that, the cooled artichokes are cut, put in jars and poured with ready-made marinade. Vegetables should be infused for at least a day.
Interesting facts about artichokes
There are about 140 types of artichokes in the world, but only 40 items are suitable for consumption. This plant is widespread in regions such as Central and Southern Europe, North Africa, South America, California, France, Spain, Italy.
This plant was first cultivated about 5 thousand years ago in Ancient Egypt, but it became widespread only in Rome, where it was considered the food of the gods. That is, only wealthy people could afford artichokes. There is an opinion that even women were forbidden to use this plant, since it was believed that they were not worthy of it.
For sale in markets and supermarkets, artichokes are harvested at different stages of maturation. Both young and mature plant species can be eaten. The cooking option depends on the stage of their growth. For example, young inflorescences of a plant can be eaten raw, but mature ones are no longer, since they are quite tough and practically tasteless. Interestingly, late artichokes are usually used for pickling and canning to be eaten later. It is also worth noting that the plant's characteristic smell begins to disappear literally immediately after cutting.
The artichoke is considered a vegetable, accordingly, and it is grown like all other representatives of this culture. First of all, you need to plant seedlings. Cultivation takes place in stages. Initially, the seeds of the plant are soaked, after they are transferred to a cold place, as a rule, they are placed in snow or ice, kept there, then they are planted in a specially prepared box with the necessary soil, then transplanted into pots, and after that they are transferred to the soil in an open space. The artichoke is looked after in the same way as for any other plants. It is also accepted to destroy weeds, special attention is paid to pest control. Do not forget about loosening and watering the soil. Usually only half-ripe inflorescences are cut off, the rest is not touched, since in the next season it germinates again.
In fact, artichokes are not particularly common as food, but they do not lose their popularity because of this, because whoever once tasted them and understood all the benefits of the product will definitely eat it again. Although the first time it is difficult to recognize the exquisite taste of the plant, it will be impossible to forget it. It is roughly similar to the taste of boiled cabbage, which gives off a hazelnut aftertaste.
It is worth saying that thanks to different technologies for preparing an artichoke, its taste also changes, it acquires new shades and notes. Sometimes it tastes salty, sometimes sweet, sometimes sour. A lot depends on the sauce that is served with the dish. And although not everyone initially likes the taste of artichoke, many people prefer it because of its incredible beneficial properties.
See an overview of artichokes in the video:
Artichokes are vegetables that were rare on the table in ancient times and are not often used now, but those who know their magical properties try to consume the product as often as possible. One has only to remember that everything is good in moderation, even "food of the gods."