Artichoke

Vicia Faba! It is just the right time for fava beans, also known as broad beans. They're called bakla in Turkish and are a favorite springtime vegetable. The appearance of fresh fava pods in the market is an indicator of spring, it is the first seasonal vegetable to appear, usually even before artichokes.

Two things are certain: Irini Kakoulidou will finally get a holiday this summer and it won't be on Tinos. That is not to say her love of the island she's been attached to for the past 30 years is in any way diminished, but after running the Xotiko bistro there for four years with her husband, she needs a break.

I did not expect much. It was like any other Sunday morning. 

I was happy to have persuaded my daughter to go to the corner store to pick up a few things for breakfast. Though she was reluctant as ever, she did not have the guts to say no and silently obeyed. It was Mother's Day after all! 

Owning a grand, impressive and imposing posture and a stately manner, the artichoke definitely has royal qualities. Totally dignified, the artichoke stands alone erecting its head as if to reach the sky. The artichoke plant is actually a thistle; a thistle that has transformed itself into the king of vegetables.

The title may suggest that late Jerusalem artichokes must be one of the vegetables that have stirred up much confusion by their name and use in history. The vegetable is actually the tuber of a pretty yellow flower from the sunflower family, which is native to North America and Canada. Like peppers, potatoes and tomatoes, it is a gift of the Columbian exchange to the cuisines of the old world.