The artichoke. A specimen that stands out as the most beautiful of all — and everything beautiful deserves verses dedicated to it. That part, I’ll leave to poet Pablo Neruda, who wrote a wonderful Ode to the Artichoke that’s worth looking up. However, I won’t miss the opportunity to contribute my own thoughts — as artichokes inspire me to the point of obsession. I first tried them when I was 9 years old — and I remember it clearly: I refused to eat them, but my father insisted. So I gave them a go and fell in love instantly. I ate three in a row.

With that, here goes my dose of inspired reverence: exotic beauty, dinosaur-like plant, legendary bud. It stands upright like a king's sceptre, its fruit a swollen fist made of a thousand fingers. It shamelessly sheds what defends it, becoming more and more docile, more subtle, and sensual the closer to the centre, those last petals of rice paper enveloping the most precious part: its heart. Oh, artichoke, a living metaphor! There is still a barrier to reach that glorious pulp. The heart is protected by thorns that, when they bloom, explode into a punk-like wig of a unique purple, which turns golden before dying, laden with seeds that want to live. His Majesty the artichoke, for me, her Ladyship the alcachofa. That's what I'll call it in this article — which is more like a declaration of love — because ‘alcachofa’ is a great word, with a resounding sound. The ‘ch’ cannot be omitted, or its idiomatic equivalent, as it has to do with the identity of this product: ‘caciofo’ in Italian, ‘artichoke’ in English, ‘artichaut’ in French. ‘Alcaucil’ is a tangled word that almost everyone mispronounces or misspells in Spanish. Besides, even in these times of gender neutrality, the artichoke is definitely feminine.

In the end, both words — ‘alcaucil’ and ‘alcachofa’ — come from Andalusian Arabic, like all those that begin with ‘al’. They’re the direct translation from ‘al-kharshûf’ into Spanish, which means ‘thorn stick’. The name varies by region, but today in Andalusia, Spain, the cradle, the high quality ones are called ‘alcaucil’, while the lower quality ones are called ‘alcachofa’. The plant is exactly the same, Cynara scolymus, the great-great-grandchild of thistle, Cynara cardunculus (same purple ‘wig’, smaller size, inedible flower). According to the botanist Nikolai Vavilov, its birth place is located in an area covering Asia Minor and North Africa, part of the Mediterranean basin, including the Canary Islands, the Aegean Islands, and the southern regions of Turkey and Syria. There, three of the original primitive subspecies that were already being consumed from 2000 to 2500 BC still grow wild.

Like most foods in human history, they soon made their way to the Romans and Greeks, who fell for their medicinal qualities and, no doubt, for their beauty too. Why else would the artichoke have a place in Greek mythology? How many vegetables hold that title? The myth goes that Cynara was a beautiful mortal who Zeus fell in love with. Zeus took her with him to Mount Olympus on the condition that she cut all ties with her family, but the girl missed them and escaped back to the mortal world. He then unleashed his fury on her, surrounding her with green scales, turning her into an artichoke (kinara in Greek) for all eternity. There is a small island in Greece called Kinaros/Cinarus because of the artichokes that grow on it, as well as along the entire Mediterranean coast. The artichoke needs humidity to grow healthily; dry climates cause it to fill with ‘hairs’ (the botanical name is ‘papus’) around the heart and lose weight.

Returning to its origin and history, there are few traces of its existence during the Middle Ages; believed to be the product of intensive thistle cultivation in North Africa, Egypt, and Ethiopia. The first artichokes, as we know them today, were found in Sicily in the 15th century. It was likely brought there from Spain where they had been introduced by the Arabs. From Spain, they made their way to Renaissance Italy, and from there, Catherine de' Medici brought them as part of her luggage to the French court. The artichoke was believed to be a powerful aphrodisiac. And this part of its reputation was strengthened by the fact that Catherine had ten children with her husband King Henry II — so much so that the ladies of the court who were not seeking offspring were forbidden from eating them. Catherine enjoyed artichokes stuffed with kidneys and rooster crests, becoming so devoted to the dish that she accused the poor vegetable of her death.

A Bit of Botany

The artichoke is an immature inflorescence. In other words, it's a large bud, technically called a capitulum, that transforms into a flower. In reality, it consists of several flowers because each of its violet hairs in the head is, in fact, a flower. It's a plant suited for a cool temperate climate that undergoes a summer dormancy period during high temperatures and limited water availability. The optimal growth temperature is between 14°C to 18°C, and it requires temperatures below 10°C to induce flowering.

It's a perennial vegetable that, under normal conditions, produces leaves and floral stems in a single season of the year and for a variable period. Then, the aerial part dries out, and the plant enters its dormancy period. It survives because its root has buds that sprout at the right moment, allowing the plant to produce the aerial part again. This cycle can repeat itself for many years — unless there are accidental causes leading to the plant's death. It adapts to different types of soils as long as they are deep, well-drained, and well-aerated since it is highly sensitive to rot in its roots.

Mondo alcachofa

Globally, about 122,000 hectares have been harvested in total, with a production volume of approximately 1.6 million tonnes. Based on data from the 2014-2019 period, the main global producers of this product are Italy, Egypt, and Spain¹. The principal exporting countries are Spain, France, and Tunisia, while the major importing countries are France, Italy, and Turkey².

Italy is the Mecca of artichokes, with 50,000 hectares destined to the artichoke cultivation and at least 50 different species. Each village has its own variety, and each claims that their variety is better than the previous village's. Each variety comes with both geographical identification and its own festival — and you know that if there are artichokes, there's a festival — in Italy and around the world. Some of the most well-known varieties are Ladispoli, Niscemi, and Ramacca in Catania, where they don't just prepare typical dishes but hold artichoke sculpture competitions (this is how I would imagine paradise).

The most widespread variety is the ‘romanesco’, cultivated in spring, with its distinct purple colour, originating from Puglia, Sardinia, and Sicily, with dozens of local subtypes in the Lazio and Campania regions. Other varieties include the ‘Espinosa’, which owes its name to its spiky tips, and the Italians say it's the best for eating raw due to its meaty yet crunchy texture. There's the ‘Francesino’ (found in the Apulia and Sicily regions), similar to the ‘violet of Provence’ in France, from which it likely takes its name. Then, there's the ‘Brindisino/Catanese’, which is similar to the previous one but more open and of lower quality, so it is mostly used in industrial processing.

In France, the most cultivated variety is the ‘Camus de Bretagne’, which was created in 1810 by a Parisian agronomist. It is a late variety with large green heads (two or three artichokes can weigh up to 1 kg). Other species in the category of ‘artichauts charnus’ (fleshy artichokes) include the ‘Castel’ and ‘Cardinal’, both violet in colour and grown along the Armor and Brittany coasts. There is also the ‘verte de Laon’, also known as the ‘cat's head’, which is better suited for cold climates, and the ‘violet de Provence’, small, conical, with violet bracts, sold in markets under the name ‘artichaut bouquet’ since they are sold in bunches, like flowers. It can be eaten raw when not fully mature, and at that point, it is called ‘poivrade’.

In Spain, they are green or ‘white’, as they call them. In fact, the most valued variety is the ‘Blanco de Tudela’, which is grown in the regions of Navarre, La Rioja, Murcia, Alicante, Prat del Llobregat, and the north of the Province of Castellón de la Plana (the famous artichoke of Benicarló, which holds the only Protected Designation of Origin for artichokes in Spain, comes from here).

The United States is also a major producer of artichokes. Although the first mention of local artichokes was in 1806 in the publication McMahon’s Gardeners Catalogue³, the current species, ‘Green Globe’, varies considerably from the one described by the botanist — that one was purple. Americans today prefer them white and large and are mainly consumed on the East Coast and cultivated in California. In Monterey County, they celebrate the Castroville Artichoke Festival, where a queen is chosen annually. In 1948, the Artichoke Queen of Castroville was none other than Marilyn Monroe.

In South America, the main producers are Argentina, Chile, and Peru. Peru has become one of the world's leading producers, thanks to powerful international Spanish capital investment.

A Brief History of Rioplatense Plant Life

According to Carina Perticone, a semiotician, and a CONICET doctoral fellow specialising in gastronomy, artichokes arrived to the American continent by way of the Spanish conquistadors. When they reached the latitudes of South America, there was emerging agricultural activity in the region, especially in what is now known as the Litoral, located in the Paraná and Uruguay river basins. In Argentina, there was also an incipient agricultural footprint, particularly in Córdoba and the northern areas. However, in the Plata River basin, corn was the dominant crop.

In the 18th century, the Spanish cookbooks used by the kitchen staff of the wealthy — who had the means to eat vegetables — included virtually everything consumed in the ‘motherland’. Tomatoes (which had gone to Europe and then were reintroduced, as they’re native to America), potatoes (also from America but imported at that time), squash, corn, eggplant, onion, leek, lettuce, cabbage, various types of shallots, garlic, fresh herbs like parsley (the most widely used in Argentina to this day), marjoram, coriander seeds, and more. Official documents from that time record the domestic purchase of these vegetables, including artichokes, which were also called ‘algarchofas’. They also consumed products that are no longer commonly eaten, such as palm shoots and thistles. Later, around 1830, they began mentioning fruit varieties like apples, pears, peaches, and strawberries or frutillas (already called that, instead of ‘fresa’).

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, with the arrival of a more diverse Italian immigration, including Piedmontese, Sicilian, etc., horticultural production grew. Not only did they plant their gardens wherever they settled, they also engaged in the distribution of what they produced. They brought their culinary culture with them. By 1911, the general stores sold ‘fugazza’ and ‘pascualina’ (of Genoese origin) in La Boca, which had a version with artichokes. Gradually, affluent families and restaurants began to incorporate them into their recipes, giving artichokes prestige. Also, because they’re seasonal, they became a sought-after product the rest of the year and very expensive as a result.

During those times, chefs did not have their own restaurants but worked in the homes of the upper classes. One of the most renowned chefs of that era was Francisco Figueredo, originally from Brazil. He created a recipe for ‘alcauciles rellenos a la porteña’ (artichokes stuffed Porteño-style), which was circulated widely. Carlos Spriano, the chef for the Uriburu, Irigoyen, and other well-to-do families, prepared a dish called ‘tortilla a la Gramajo’, with asparagus tips, purple artichokes, and sausage. Another popular dish during those times was ‘alcauciles al infierno’ (artichokes from hell), cooked in a pot over high heat (hence the fiery name) within a basic stew, then baked in the oven with breadcrumbs on top — like a gratin.

Later in the 20th century, Pedemonte, a famous restaurant located on Avenida de Mayo (opened in 1890, but artichokes arrived later), made a ‘pascualina de alcauciles’ that became part of Argentine culinary history. It was typically served as an appetiser, but Jorge Luis Borges, a regular at Pedemonte, would eat it as a main course.

The Argentine Artichoke

Mancuso, Agostinelli, Simonetti, Compagnucci, Giampieri, and Gattini. You won't find more Italian names in Argentina than that. They were the ones who brought the artichoke shoots in their luggage in the boats when they immigrated to Argentina. They arrived on ships between the 1940s and 1950s and, over the years, brought different varieties. They came from Calabria and Porto Recanati, in the middle of the Italian boot, on the Adriatic Sea.

The fellow countrymen settled in La Plata, mainly in the Arana area, and also in Olmos and Etcheverry, where they found very suitable land for this crop. “They rented a small piece of land and grew artichokes, tomatoes, and peppers, which they sold in La Plata and the Abasto Market,” says Carmelo Mancuso, the son of one of the Calabrian immigrants. “I worked from a very young age with my father, uncle, and brother until I retired at 65. At that time, the Ñato was already in the area, but we started working with the Romanesco, which they had brought from Italy. Today, my brother and nephew continue with the business. It's essential for us that the new generations carry on the legacy so that it doesn't get lost. It's not easy,” concludes Carmelo.

The Ñato (in this case, La Ñata) was an artichoke that everyone loved because it was very tender but highly seasonal, only available in September and in limited quantities. It was similar to the Romanesco but called Ñato because it was more elongated, without a pointy tip. There was also the French artichoke, which was later revealed to be a Romanesco renamed to distinguish it and make it seem more prestigious.

From the Spanish side, artichokes were introduced and referred to as green or white interchangeably. The White of Tudela was the first to arrive in the La Plata region, but it wasn't well-received. It was highly susceptible to cold weather, and production ceased. This variety was taken to Cuyo, mainly to San Juan and the north of Mendoza, and from there, it made its way to Chile, where it's now called Argentino.

The fellow countrymen established a club in Arana called ‘La Armonía’, where they would gather once a year to share artichoke based dishes. Particularly, escabeches which are pickled preparations, as it's the best way to preserve them for the rest of the year. They also crowned a queen, and even though there are no photos or traces of who these queens were, it's safe to assume they were beautiful local Marilyns.

According to the report Artichoke in Argentina (July 2021), in the 1980s, there was a surge in artichoke production through greenhouse cultivation, leading to changes in consumption habits within society. However, by that time, the supply had exceeded the demand for artichokes, and other annual crops began to replace them, resulting in a sharp decline in artichoke production. In 1975, there were 3,972 hectares of artichoke cultivation, which had dropped to 2,000 by 1980. By 1994, the cultivation had decreased to only 700 hectares. Currently, there are around 1.750 hectares dedicated to artichoke production in Argentina. The primary production hub is in the La Plata region, with approximately 800 to 900 hectares being cultivated. This area accounts for 97% of the artichoke cultivation in the Buenos Aires province, making it the most important artichoke-producing region in the country. Artichoke production in La Plata horticultural belt today represents approximately 60% of the country's total artichoke production. The land chosen by those pioneering immigrants offers the highest yields, with around 14,000 kg per hectare, which is double the national average of 7,000 kg per hectare.

Here, two fundamental pillars of the current artichoke industry in La Plata come into play. Adriana Riccetti and Gonzalo Villena, both agricultural engineers, obtained subsidies through the national program, Cambio Rural, in 1994. The government paid the technicians to provide advice to the local producers on collaborative ventures to scale up and increase sales. Adriana explains: “Farmers were stopping artichoke cultivation because it was a crop that occupied the land throughout the year to yield only 20 days a month. It was uneconomical, and this change coincided with the shift in consumer trends since the 1980s, moving toward processed food, and women entering the workforce. People no longer wanted to cook, of course. Artichokes are labour-intensive.”

”La Plata is the best region in the country due to its climate, soil conditions, and the knowledge passed down through generations among the producers, coupled with technological advancements,” says Villena. “The original genetic material is still used today, although it coexists with hybrid materials. We consider it important to promote the value of the product. This marked the colourful history of the La Plata artichokes,” as mentioned in the MAGYP report. This was the beginning of the process to obtain a Geographical Indication for artichokes.

The Colourful History of the La Plata Artichokes

Adriana and Gonzalo gathered 12 local producers, with Adriana taking care of all commercial and organisational aspects and Gonzalo handling the technical elements in the field. The program brought several resources with it, including support from INTA (The National Institute of Agricultural Technology), which saw researchers join to develop specific materials. “The Fieldwork involved improving the existing system, keeping the same variety but enhancing production,” explains Adriana. “Plants would collapse for the producers because they didn't rotate them. Part of the work with INTA was to introduce materials from other countries, primarily from Spain and Italy, which were tested in the fields. It was only in 2005 that we reached hybrid variants like the Madrigal and managed to keep the Romanesco in better conditions due to improved production systems. By adding more artichoke varieties, the product portfolio expanded, and the harvesting season extended. Some producers start in July/August; the Madrigal isn't available until October/November, which provided a commercial focus that was missing,” Adriana says, who is a devoted communicator of the Alcachofas Platenses project.

Supermarkets were the primary commercial channel, but it became unsustainable as they were only commercialising one crop variety (besides, they paid their invoices after two months). They didn't have the financial capacity to support the business, and the producers were unwilling to deliver the product without pay. The breaking point came in 2001, and the project became untenable. They later resumed the project in 2005, with the introduction of hybrid varieties, which gained popularity. Restaurants then became the primary distribution channel.

Geographical Indication

In 2009, Argentina passed the Geographical Indication law, and apart from the wine industry, there were no groups applying for it. This led the national government to seek out the Argentine artichoke producers with a proposal to initiate a pilot project (along with the La Plata tomatoes). Adriana was responsible for collecting all the necessary information to create the protocol, so she knows it better than anyone. “The protocol's key point is typification, which means classification for commercial purposes. We have three categories: premium (first selection), second selection, and out of standard. Then, there's a classification based on material types: the Romanesco (violet), the Madrigal (white), the baby, and the peeled (they remove the thicker leaves and put them in a container with a citric acid solution to preserve them and prevent them from turning black). The peeled artichoke has been the best-selling type in recent years.”

“Within each category, there are different types with earlier and later harvest times, which extends the harvesting season. The whites and babies are the last to be harvested. The producers also have certain requirements, such as having more than a year of experience working within the protocol. Other aspects taken into account include the method of reproduction (seed or shoot), irrigation method, fertilisation, health treatment, harvest type (which is always manual but done in different ways), and the type of packaging used. It was a challenging process, but in 2016, we finally received the Geographical Indication.”

The Masticar fair in Buenos Aires was a significant boost for this new phase, along with ‘Mesa’, a project created by the argentina-based Acelga gastronomic association which promoted menus in restaurants featuring seasonal products. In its first edition, it was entirely dedicated to artichokes. As part of this activity, the group purchased artichokes for all the participating restaurants and organised logistics with Sueño Verde. While restaurants remained the primary commercial channel, distribution became more complicated, despite the generosity of Agustín Benito, the director of Sueño Verde, located in Pilar. Obtaining the Geographical Indication requires extremely careful handling of the product, as it is delivered shortly after harvest, making distribution complex and unfeasible for small quantities.

Cultivation

”We use an organic fertilisation base, a high-yield fertiliser made from bone meal, blood meal, highly organic. We have chickens and sheep on the farm, and we compost what they leave, which is used for fertilisation,” says Gonzalo. Artichokes are prone to pests like spider mites, aphids, and fungi, and they aim to use integrated pest management to combat them. They don't directly use beneficial insects, but they try to encourage their intervention. For instance, ladybugs eat aphids, so if they see ladybugs on the plants, they let them help. They also used slug traps in early integrated pest management trials. However, to combat pests, they might apply a targeted product to affected areas, always with the green band going up. Some years, no products are applied, but they can't risk losing the harvest because production is limited. Surplus artichokes are given to the sheep, and some are taken by the restaurants to make artichoke paste. Adriana emphasises: “In 2023, the drought killed us. When the intense heat starts, the artichoke tends to flower, producing hairs called papus, which are the stamens inside. Those are unsellable.”

New Varieties

All the varieties cultivated in the country were introduced from Europe at various times. Producers have maintained them over many years by selecting the best shoots and replacing plants that were lost. Artichokes are prone to diseases, leading local producers to import seeds, primarily from Spain and Portugal, to become independent from seed imports.

The Ministry of Science and Technology introduced a program called ImpaCT.AR, led by the National University of Rosario (UNR), to develop new national varieties and distance themselves on reliance from international seed imports. The story of how they began to work with artichokes is quite serendipitous : Estela García, the person who initiated the program in the late 80s, spent some time in France working with artichokes and brought seeds from there. She then proposed the development of domestic varieties. Vanina Cravero, a Doctor of Agricultural Sciences and Master of Plant Genetic Improvement at the Faculty of Agronomy of the UNR, who is in charge of the project, explains: “We began making crosses between the varieties Estela brought from France. We selected the best plants based on quality, size, and yield, developing an improvement program that involves annual selection of the best plants until materials with desirable characteristics are obtained. Three varieties — Oro Verde, Gurí, and Gauchito — were generated at UNR in the late 90s.”

Oro Verde looks just as its name declares it: a green, large artichoke, to be consumed fresh. Gauchito is also green but smaller than Oro Verde and is more suitable for industrialised consumption (canning). On the other hand, the Gurí variety is slightly purple, not intensely violet, but closer to what people are used to seeing in the market.

The best shoots or plantlets obtained are sent to a biolab located in Mercedes, 100 km from La Plata, where they are multiplied through in vitro propagation to ensure homogeneity in cultivation. This method, carried out in controlled conditions, results in plants of the same size entering the field in a completely aseptic manner, free from disease transmission. “Biotechnology involves the application of technology to biological matters. We don't perform any type of genetic modification. It's a nanotechnology approach to genetic material, with an agroecological focus and laboratory improvement,” Cravero concludes.

The biolab is a laboratory for growing plant tissues. Thousands of clones are produced from a small plant fragment (meristem), which is derived from mother plant cells. “Some advantages of this technique are that when we know the mother plant's identity, the clones are identical to it, and if the mother plant is healthy, the clones will also be healthy since the lab works under sterile conditions, keeping the plants free from viruses and pathogens,” says Dr. Raúl Amado Cattáneo, the project coordinator. These technologies are used as Artichoke seeds don't have a good germination rate, and many producers stopped cultivating due to the high cost of imported seeds (1000 seeds cost between 400 and 500 dollars).

Cattaneo continues: “In the short term, we aim to multiply the three varieties that UNR has, including Gurí FCA, Gauchito FCA, and Oro Verde FCA. The system has been fine-tuned, and now we are working to produce enough plants for spring 2024.”

In the medium term, new crosses are being conducted at the National University of Rosario. They seek to have a wider range of varieties suitable for different soils, climate conditions, and resistance or tolerance to diseases. This tends to benefit both the market and production.

As a complement to this testimony, Constanza Gordillo Marandet, a Floriculture Technician, explains that in vitro propagation is neither better nor worse than using the traditional seed production method; it is simply a production decision. “In vitro propagation takes place in a lab in tubes, where the plant has never come into contact with any pathogens (viruses, bacteria, etc.), and when these plants are introduced to the field, when they are exposed to sunlight and 'breathe' — this process is called hardening-off — many plants die. Since they are all clones, there is no genetic variety, which makes that single variety more susceptible to pests, and there is a risk of losing the entire crop. In contrast, in conventional seed crops, as they are not clones but 'siblings,' there is a different genetic variability and thus different immunological variability; each plant responds differently to the same disease. Seed cultivation is more robust, more resistant, and has a greater genetic pool; it is different each time. The issue is that the seed, being so heterogeneous, makes the crops distinctive — each artichoke has a different shape, different weight — which complicates the product's sale to the market. The market prefers the uniformity resulting from in vitro propagation, as it is easier to sell.”

A poetic conclusion

It turns out that not only is my love for the artichoke excessive, but as is the amount of information available. As always, nature surprises us. I remain with the hopeful longing to try a Gurí, a Gauchito, or an Oro Verde, leaf by leaf, proud and my chest filled with patriotism. To end this piece, I leave you with Neruda’s closing remarks: “And so it ends / in peace / the career / of the armoured vegetable / called “artichoke”, / and presently / scale by scale / we undress / this delight / we munch / the peaceful paste / of its green heart.” 🐟