Chef Juliette
Suet Dumpling
Boulettes au suif, poached beside salt beef, turn equal weights of flour and finely chopped suet into tender, rich dumplings. Keep the beef liquor at a bare tremble and the old garnish works beautifully at home.
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Artichauts à la Barigoule
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 2028, Artichauts à la Barigoule, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Artichauts à la Barigoule turns tender artichokes into little braising vessels, packed with mushrooms and fat bacon, wrapped, wine-braised, then dressed with only a spoonful of dark, concentrated sauce.
Side Dishes
French
Dinner Party
Special Occasion
Make Ahead
45 min
Active Time
1 hr cook•1 hr 45 min total
Yield4 servings
Artichauts à la Barigoule (artichokes stuffed with mushroom duxelle and bacon, then braised in white wine) teaches concentration. Know one thing before touching the pan: the braising liquor must be strained, stripped of fat, and reduced hard with demi-glace until only a little glossy sauce remains. Leave it thin and the artichokes taste watered, however carefully you prepared them.
The original entry assumed finished Duxelle for Stuffed Vegetables (No. 224), a saucier on staff, and good half-glaze sauce drawn from a stockpot never off the fire. At home, the referenced Duxelle still arrives as a finished component, while prepared low-salt veal demi-glace gives the braising liquor its honest foundation. The quantities here serve four, and a close-fitting saucepan does the work once entrusted to a broad braising station. One cook, one stove, one evening.
The separate sauce station is brigade scaffolding and can go. The parboiling, stuffing, bacon wrapping, gentle wine braise, and final reduction are the dish, so they stay. Take particular care with that reduction: it should coat the spoon and pool beneath the artichokes, never flood them.
Artichauts à la Barigoule belongs to Provence, where the word barigoule is associated with a local name for the saffron milk-cap mushroom, a clue to the mushroom stuffing found in this grand-kitchen form. The name also covers a Provençal olive-oil braise of unstuffed artichokes with aromatic vegetables, and the two preparations are related without being interchangeable. This version follows the stuffed branch of the canon, with fat bacon, white wine, and demi-glace carrying it from a southern vegetable dish into the formal repertoire.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
very fresh and tender globe artichokes
Quantity
4 medium (about 3 lb / 1.4 kg total)
lemons
Quantity
2
water
Quantity
2 qt (1.9 L / 1.9 kg)
fine sea salt
Quantity
2 tsp (10 ml / 12 g)
divided
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
½ tsp (2.5 ml / 1 g)
Duxelle for Stuffed Vegetables (No. 224)
Quantity
¾ cup (180 ml / 150 g) Duxelle for Stuffed Vegetables (No. 224)
cooled
fresh unsmoked fatback
Quantity
3 tbsp (45 ml / 38 g)
very cold and finely grated
unsalted butter
Quantity
2 tbsp plus 2 tsp (40 ml / 38 g)
softened
very thin unsmoked streaky bacon or pork belly
Quantity
8 slices (about 4 oz / 120 g)
dry white wine
Quantity
1½ cups (360 ml / 360 g)
prepared veal demi-glace
Quantity
⅓ cup (80 ml / 85 g)
unsalted or low-salt
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| very fresh and tender globe artichokes | 4 medium (about 3 lb / 1.4 kg total) |
| lemons | 2 |
| water | 2 qt (1.9 L / 1.9 kg) |
| fine sea saltdivided | 2 tsp (10 ml / 12 g) |
| freshly ground black pepper | ½ tsp (2.5 ml / 1 g) |
| Duxelle for Stuffed Vegetables (No. 224)cooled | ¾ cup (180 ml / 150 g) Duxelle for Stuffed Vegetables (No. 224) |
| fresh unsmoked fatbackvery cold and finely grated | 3 tbsp (45 ml / 38 g) |
| unsalted buttersoftened | 2 tbsp plus 2 tsp (40 ml / 38 g) |
| very thin unsmoked streaky bacon or pork belly | 8 slices (about 4 oz / 120 g) |
| dry white wine | 1½ cups (360 ml / 360 g) |
| prepared veal demi-glaceunsalted or low-salt | ⅓ cup (80 ml / 85 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •Large nonreactive pot
- •4 qt close-fitting heavy saucepan with lid
- •Teaspoon or small melon baller
- •Cotton kitchen string
- •Fine-mesh sieve
- •Wide saucepan for reducing
Instructions
- 1
Trim the artichokes
Bring the water to a boil in a large nonreactive pot with half the salt. Meanwhile, pull away only the toughest outer leaves from each artichoke, cut the stem flush so it will stand upright, and slice about 1 inch from the top. Rub every exposed surface firmly with the cut lemons as you work, then squeeze the remaining juice into the boiling water.
- 2
Parboil and hollow
Lower the artichokes into the lemon-salted water and parboil for 10 to 12 minutes. They should soften enough for the leaves to open without becoming tender all the way through. Drain them upside down until cool enough to handle, then pull out the pale central cone of leaves and scrape away every strand of fuzzy choke with a teaspoon or melon baller. Keep the fleshy bottom intact. If a leaf tears, don't fret; the bacon and string will hold the shape during the braise.
- 3
Stuff and wrap
Season the cavities with the remaining salt and the pepper. Fold the cooled Duxelle for Stuffed Vegetables (No. 224) together with the grated fatback and softened butter, keeping the book's ratio of four parts Duxelle to one part fatback and one part butter by weight. Divide the filling among the artichokes and mound it firmly inside. Wrap each artichoke with two thin bacon slices, then secure it around the middle and over the top with cotton kitchen string.
- 4
Braise in wine
Stand the wrapped artichokes snugly in the smallest heavy, nonreactive saucepan that holds them in one layer. Pour the white wine around them, cover the surface with a parchment round, then fit the lid. Bring the wine just to a simmer and braise gently for 30 to 40 minutes, until a thin knife enters the fleshy base with little resistance. Keep the liquid at a bare tremble. If the pan threatens to dry before the bases are tender, add a spoonful or two of warm wine and cover again.
- 5
Unwrap the artichokes
Lift the artichokes carefully onto a warm platter. Cut away every piece of string and remove the bacon wrappers, which have given their fat and kept the filling in place. Cover the artichokes loosely while you finish the sauce. Handle them from beneath rather than gripping the leaves, because they are tender now.
- 6
Reduce the liquor
Strain the braising liquor through a fine sieve into a wide saucepan without pressing the solids. Let it stand briefly, then skim away every visible bead of bacon fat. Add the prepared veal demi-glace and boil briskly until reduced to about ½ cup (120 ml / 125 g), glossy enough to coat the back of a spoon. This is the step that decides the dish. If the sauce runs like broth, keep reducing; if it becomes salty, sticky, or too tight, ça se rattrape: whisk in warm water one teaspoon at a time until the gloss and balance return.
- 7
Sauce and serve
Set the artichokes upright and spoon only a little reduced sauce over and around each one, about 1 to 2 tablespoons. The leaves should glisten and a shallow mahogany pool should collect beneath them, with the mushroom filling still visible at the center. Bring the remaining sauce separately if there is any. À table!
Chef Tips
- •This dish truly needs fresh whole artichokes with tight leaves, firm stems, and no dry splitting at the tips. Frozen or canned hearts cannot hold the stuffing; save those for artichauts à la grecque and wait for good whole specimens here.
- •Have the Duxelle for Stuffed Vegetables (No. 224) finished and cold before you begin. It must be dry enough to mound rather than run between the leaves; a wet filling escapes into the wine and weakens both the artichokes and their sauce.
- •Prepared demi-glace varies wildly in salt. Choose a veal-based, low-salt version and reconstitute concentrated products before measuring. A bouillon cube gives salt without the gelatin and body this reduction requires.
- •A dry white from Provence, such as Cassis blanc, belongs naturally beside the dish. Serve the artichokes with roasted lamb, veal, or chicken, and provide a bowl for the discarded leaves.
Advance Preparation
- •The Duxelle for Stuffed Vegetables (No. 224) can be prepared up to 2 days ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator. Bring it only to cool room temperature before combining it with the butter and fatback.
- •The artichokes may be parboiled, hollowed, stuffed, and tied up to 4 hours ahead. Keep them covered and refrigerated, then begin the wine braise about an hour before serving.
- •For a full make-ahead service, braise the artichokes 1 day ahead and cool them promptly in their liquor. Reheat them gently while still wrapped, then remove the bacon and string, strain the liquor, and complete the reduction just before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 260g)
Calories
475 calories
Total Fat
38 g
Saturated Fat
17 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
19 g
Cholesterol
70 mg
Sodium
1150 mg
Total Carbohydrates
22 g
Dietary Fiber
8 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
11 g
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