Carciofi alla giudia

Carciofi alla giudia are whole fried artichokes. The Romanesco artichoke of the mammola type, also called cimarolo, is used — round, compact and almost spineless, cultivated on the coast of Lazio. After the tough outer leaves are removed, the artichoke is shaped in a spiral, as if peeling an apple, and soaks for a few minutes in water with lemon to prevent browning.

The frying is done in two stages. First, in warm oil to cook the inside. After a rest, it returns to very hot oil, upside down, so the leaves open and brown. The result resembles a flower: the tips become as crispy as French fries, and the heart remains tender. It is finished with salt.

The dish was born in Rome’s ghetto, where the Jewish population was forced to live from 1555 to 1870, beside the Theatre of Marcellus. The artichoke was among the affordable foods, and frying in olive oil was connected to the street-frying trade — one of the few occupations allowed to the residents — and to Jewish dietary rules, which favor olive oil over butter. The dish was associated with Pesach, the Jewish Passover, which coincides with spring, from March to May, the artichoke season.

The Romanesco artichoke is usually at its peak between March and April, and the streets of the old ghetto remain the place most associated with the dish. In 2018, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel ruled that a whole artichoke would not be kosher because insects could hide between the leaves; the Jewish community of Rome disagreed, noting that the leaves of the Roman artichoke are very tightly closed.