During a walk over the island this month (May), you will see many artichokes in the vegetable gardens. The Kythirians are proud of the typical way of cooking these vegetables. Not boiled in water, as the French do, but grilled on the bbq or in the oven.
The preparation goes like this: you pick the artichoke when it is not quite full-grown. You hold it upside down and knock it on the table in order to remove insects and to spread the leaves a bit more. Then you drip some lemon juice and olive oil over the artichokes, together with the best Kythirian sea salt. You put them next to each other on the bbq (the bbq needs to be at medium heat) or in the oven (180 degrees, use a large baking tin). As soon as you can pick a leaf from the artichoke with your thumb and index finger (after about 45 minutes), it is ready. Don’t worry: the artichokes will be charred black… but the smoky taste is delicious.
Enjoy your meal!!