It's artichoke season in Bodrum. Their wild cousins, cardoons ("kenger" in
Turkish), flourished about a month or so ago but now their cultivated kin
are coming up strong and this year we've got a good crop indeed.

I just boil them and to eat, pick off and strip off leaves the one by one,
dipping them in a sauce made from:

mayonnaise (real)
anchovies
garlic
capers
black pepper (freshly ground)

Mix in a blender (not too strenuously or you'll split the mayo) and let rest
a couple of hours before using.

Thanks to Alton Brown and "Good Eats" ("The Choke's On You") I've discovered
that the stems of artichokes are every bit as delicious as the hearts. You
just have to peel them first before boiling them. Recalling all the
artichoke stems I've thrown away in my lifetime I can't help but wonder why
nobody told me about this before.
--
Bob
http://www.kanyak.com