Artichokes

An old friend who I haven't heard from for a long time sent a comment reminding me that I used to have theory about cooks: Every cook has one ingredient that they try and sneak into as many dishes as possible. Hers was tofu. Mine was artichokes. She wanted to know if I was still as obsessed as I was back in the day. Well Cait, this one's for you.

Artichokes were on sale this week at Price Chopper for $1 a piece. We've been going a little crazy.

This summer, we have tried to eat local as much as possible, with regular trips to Indian Ladder Farms, the Troy Waterfront Farmers Market and the Coop. But artichokes are where my resolve meets my genes and the genes win. I've tried to reason that my brother lives in a trailer next to an artichoke field in Moss Landing, California, so artichokes are local in the family. But I might as well pour a beer for breakfast and start singing, It's gotta be 5 o'clock somewhere.

I come from a long line of artichoke lovers and the trait seems to run strong. When my daughter Bean was about 15 months old, she started to scream one night during dinner. She wasn't crying just howling. We couldn't get her to stop, and we couldn't figure out what was wrong. She had plenty of mashed up, cut up baby food on her plate and a drink. What was the problem? This went on for several ear-piercing minutes.

The only thing on the table that she didn't have was an artichoke. Finally, I handed her a leaf and she stuck the soft end in her mouth and scrapped it against what teeth she had. How she knew to do this, I don't know. I think there must be some deep genetic connection, probably from the Sephardic side of the family, that sends me and mine into some what altered states at the mere sight of an artichoke. I handed her another leaf. For the rest of the meal she refused to consider any other food on the table. Her sister soon got into the act.

So now, we wait every year for the few weeks when artichokes go on sale. This was our week, and I might go back for one more run tonight.

So folks, what is the one food you will buy no matter how far it has to travel to get here?