Pope Clement II arranged the marriage of his 14-year old niece, Catherine de Medici, to the second son of King Henry of France. The marriage took Catherine from Florence at the height of the Renaissance to the comparatively rustic royal court of France.
Shamed by a blatantly unfaithful husband, lonely Catherine longed for the tastes of home. Fortunately, a retinue of Florentine cooks had come with her, and now they comforted her with the delicacies of Florence: sorbets, macaroons, frangipane tarts, and zabaglione. They helped Catherine introduced vegetables never before seen in France: not only artichokes, but also broccoli, green beans, peas, truffles, and melons.
Most significant to the evolution of French cuisine, these Florentine cooks showed the French how to move beyond their medieval preferences for meats coated with dry rubs of strong spices, and instead to employ delicate sauces.
Catherine is also credited with improving French table manners and something as basic as eating with a fork. The French were slow to adopt the fashion. It would take another hundred years before the fork took hold, and table manners were ridiculed as effeminate until the reign of the King Louis XIV.
Cream of Artichoke Soup
You will need: a hand-held immersion blender. Alternatively, you may purée the soups in batches in a food processor or blender.
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients:
- 6 artichoke hearts (see below if starting with whole artichokes)
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 white onion, coarsely chopped
- 3 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
- 1 large russet potato, peeled and coarsely chopped
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 1/3 cup (2 ounces) hazelnuts (a.k.a. filberts)
- 1 Tbsp fleur de sel (or other sea salt)
- 1 tsp ground white pepper
- 1/3 cup Armagnac (or Cognac or another good quality brandy)
Method:
- Preheat oven to 400° F.
- Cut each artichoke lengthwise into eight pieces and set aside.
- Add the olive oil to a large saucepan over medium-high flame. Add the onion and celery and sauté until caramelized to golden brown, 8-10 minutes.
- Add the artichoke pieces, potato and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Turn down the flame to medium, and simmer, covered until about 45 minutes. The flavors will have blended and the consistency should have thickened somewhat.
- Meanwhile, spread the hazelnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven for 5 minutes. Turn off the oven, but use the residual heat to warm your serving bowls.
- Spread the warm nuts on a clean kitchen towel. Cover with a second towel and rub the nuts gently to remove as much of the skin as possible.
- Let the nuts cool. Coarsely chop them and set aside.
- Purée the soup with a hand-held immersion blender (or, in batches, in a food processor or stand blender).
- Strain the puréed soup through a fine-mesh sieve and return to the pan. Season to taste with the salt and pepper. Stir in the cream and Armagnac and bring back to a simmer over medium flame.
- Ladle soup into the warmed soup bowls, sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts and serve immediately.
Source: This artichoke recipe is adapted from Wendell Owen’s Casual Cuisines of the World - Bistro
Getting to the heart of whole artichokes:
One at a time, cut off the top half with a serrated knife. Trim the stem even with the bottom. Snap off all of the tough outer leaves until you reach the pale green, tender leaves. Spread the tender leaves over and use a small spoon to scoop out the prickly choke, leaving the inner leaves intact.
More ways with artichokes: Hot & Cheesy Artichoke Dip
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