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To Dry Artichoke Bottoms

A method for drying and preserving artichoke bottoms for later use.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Artichoke and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 636 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓

To Dry Artichoke Bottoms

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the artichokes

  1. Gather the largest firm artichokes in season.

  2. Cut off the stalks.

  3. Boil the artichokes until the leaves and choke can be removed.

Dry and store

  1. Place them on a baking plate and set in a slow oven (300°F / 150°C) or hang them in a warm place to dry.

  2. Once dried, store them in paper bags.

Rehydrate and serve

  1. When ready to use, soak them in warm water and salt until pliable.

  2. Trim them neatly.

  3. Braise in stock and lemon juice to keep them white.

  4. For ragout, cut them into pieces.

  5. For serving, keep them whole and top with cullis sauce.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Artichoke + lemontop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together636 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  2. Artichoke + saucetop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together462 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Lemon + saucetop 30% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,598 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Large firm artichokes
Provide the edible bottoms, which hold their shape through boiling, drying and braising.
Stock
Adds savoury liquid to the artichoke bottoms during braising.
Lemon juice
Acidity helps keep the cut artichokes from darkening, so they stay white.

The step that matters

Braise in stock and lemon juice to keep them white. Cut artichoke surfaces oxidise and turn brown when exposed to air. Acidic lemon juice slows this browning, so adding it during braising helps the bottoms keep their pale colour.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (artichoke, sauce):

  1. Avocadofits better
  2. Lemonthe original
  3. Limefits about as well
  4. Cherryfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against artichoke, sauce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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