I've been happily eating artichokes, steamed or boiled, for decades (I'm from the Midwest originally, so I dip my leaves in lemon butter; my wife from California insists on mayo). I rinse the artichokes before cooking them, but the thistle is compact enough that I'm sure I'm only affecting the outer leaves.
Which brings to last night: the leaves of our boiled artichokes were visibly gritty with sand, making them unpleasant to eat. This persisted for quite a way in towards the choke. I've never--yes, never--encountered that before in the hundreds of arties I've pleasureably consumed. We finally resorted to a bowl of hot water at the table, dipping and swirling the leaves in the water before applying our chosen condiment. Not convenient.
Have others run into this problem? Is there a secret cleaning method we don't know about? Are the now growing artichokes in the Sahara?
Which brings to last night: the leaves of our boiled artichokes were visibly gritty with sand, making them unpleasant to eat. This persisted for quite a way in towards the choke. I've never--yes, never--encountered that before in the hundreds of arties I've pleasureably consumed. We finally resorted to a bowl of hot water at the table, dipping and swirling the leaves in the water before applying our chosen condiment. Not convenient.
Have others run into this problem? Is there a secret cleaning method we don't know about? Are the now growing artichokes in the Sahara?
