Artichokes and Peppers

This week we harvested the first artichokes ! What a pleasure. We love artichokes. I only learned about this delicacy after Betsie and I got married. She taught me the way they eat it in Chile.

The artichoke is soaked in saltwater for about an hour.
The artichoke is then steamed.
Then it is served while still hot on a plate with a small bowl of a vinaigrette.
The leaves are broken off one by one and dipped in the vinaigrette sauce and then the fleshy part of the leaf is scraped off against your bottom teeth.
You do this repeatedly until you reach the core or the choke.
Here care must be exercised that you do not eat or get any of the immature florets in your mouth as this is very uncomfortable - like eating the thorns of a prickly pear.
The centre arrangement of the immature florets must then be carefully removed from the base of the flower - this base is what is sold in tins as artichoke hearts. The base is called the involucral bract. The tinned variety can never ever even be compared with the fresh as far as flavour and taste and experience is concerned. This core of the artichoke is absolutely delicious. I was so overwhelmed by the taste that I forgot to take a picture for the blog and if Betsie didn't remind me I wouldn't have taken any pictures : At the start of the meal :

And this is what is left over  :

The peppers are progressing nicely and hopefully we will be able to pick the first batch at around Christmas or if not then the first week in January.  Here are some pics to show the progress :

And then there is Boela relaxing :

See you soon !