In the style of Francesca, Gerard’s mother.

My partner Gerard’s mother was born in New Zealand, but both of her parents had been recent immigrants from the island of Stromboli, north of Sicily, in the Aeolian Sea. She went on to have five children and became a completely devoted mother who always had a pot (or several) of something on the stove to feed anyone who turned up at her house in Berhampore. Her food was an eclectic mix of New Zealand recipes and peasant Italian (her husband was a New Zealander). There’s was the only other house I had ever been to where they also ate artichokes, but they called them carcioffuli, and this is how she cooked them. (The Italian for artichokes is carciofini, so I thought the family must have got the word wrong over the years, until I found out recently that carcioffuli is the Sicilian dialect.) I never got to taste this because she only ever seemed to make it for her middle son David when he came to visit and back then I was too shy to ask! However, spurred on by needing another recipe for artichokes for this blog I decided to try it out. When I began researching this dish I discovered that there are variants all over the Middle East and northern Africa. It is not surprising then, that this is how they are prepared in Sicily. Tunisia is only 380 km across the sea from Trapani in south eastern Sicily. There are many north African influences in Sicilian cuisine such as saffron, cinnamon, currants and pine nuts. Francesca’s carciofulli were a simple preparation of breadcrumbs, herbs, garlic and cheese, but throughout Northern Africa and the Middle East the filling can include minced lamb or crumbled sausage.

Ingredients:

• 6 artichokes
• 3 cups dried breadcrumbs
• 1 cup grated parmesan
• 3 cloves finely chopped garlic
• 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp salt

Method

1. Prepare the artichokes by sawing off the top half of the globe with a serrated bread knife. Spread open the leaves as much as you can without breaking them off, and delve into the centre where there may be a hairy choke. Dig this out with a teaspoon and discard.
2. Mix the stuffing ingredients together. Using a teaspoon, place a couple of spoonfuls of stuffing into the centre cavity. Sprinkle more of the stuffing in between the leaves, pressing down to make it secure so it doesn’t fall out out. Do this until all the leaves are stuffed, aiming to use about 1/2 cup of stuffing per artichoke.
3. Place all the stuffed artichokes into a large pot, its best if the are crammed in so they stay upright.
4. Pour water in the pot so it comes halfway up the artichokes. Being to a simmer and cook until they are tender, about an hour for big ones. You know when this is achieved when you can easily pull off one of the outer leaves with a pair of tongs.
5. Drain and allow to come to room temperature. Serve as is, or with a vinaigrette dressing, as a starter or lunch. To eat, scrape the tender part of each leaf at the base with your teeth. As you get towards the centre the leaves get more tender and when you reach the heart you can eat it all.