How To Properly Eat A Fresh Artichoke (And Which Bits To Avoid)

A whole fresh artichoke is an impressive sight to behold, but it can also be daunting. If you've only ever put the canned version to good use or eaten artichoke dip, it can be hard to figure out how to approach this unique vegetable. But with a little know-how, you can save yourself from a dining faux pas. When a whole artichoke is served as a dish, the prep work will have been done for you, but that doesn't mean you can just dive in with a knife and fork – not all of it is edible.

Start at the base of the artichoke and pull off one of the outer leaves. Holding it by the top, dip the base in the accompanying sauce, which is often Hollandaise (our lemony Hollandaise sauce would pair well), melted butter, or mayonnaise. Pull the leaf between your teeth to scrape off the fleshy part, then get rid of the rest of the leaf. Continue with the remaining leaves working inward — you'll notice that they get more tender as you go, and you will have less to discard.

When you get toward the center, you'll come across the choke, which is the fuzzy part covering the heart. It lives up to its name, as the hairs will stick to your mouth and throat if you try to eat them. Take a spoon and scoop all the hairs off. Now you're left with the prized heart of the artichoke, which should be very tender and full of flavor. You can then proceed with a knife and fork, slicing and dipping into the sauce as you go.

If you happen to get your hands on a nice seasonal artichoke and want to try this at home, you'll first need to know how to prepare it. Even though it will be served whole, your artichoke needs a little trimming to make it easier to handle and allow it to cook more evenly. Start by taking a good pair of scissors or kitchen shears (like KitchenAid's $9 pair on Amazon) and cutting off the toughest tips of the leaves. This is partly aesthetic, but also saves anyone from pricking their finger on the pointiest parts. You'll then want to remove the top ¾ inch of the artichoke (a serrated knife works best for this) to expose some of the inner leaves for cooking. 

Finally, trim the stem to around 1 inch, and remove any small, tough leaves from around the base. At this point, you may want to rub the cut surfaces of your artichoke with a lemon to prevent browning. There are a few different ways to cook a whole artichoke, including wrapping it in foil in the oven, placing it in the microwave in a dish of water, or on the barbecue as we do in this grilled artichoke recipe, but stovetop steaming is the most straightforward. This will take around 25 to 45 minutes. When fully cooked, the leaves will pull away easily and the stem will be tender all the way through when pierced with a knife. Here are a few more tips you need for cooking with artichokes.