Chef Juliette
Mayonnaise de Volaille
Cold roast chicken, ciseled lettuce, and a shining coat of homemade mayonnaise, arranged with capers, olives, anchovies, eggs, and lettuce hearts, then tossed at the table as the canon intends.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Artichokes à la Grecque
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 312, Artichokes à la Grecque, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Artichauts à la grecque prove that the cooking liquor can be the salad: tender little artichokes, olive oil, lemon, coriander, and fennel, chilled until every leaf has taken the bright, spiced marinade.
Salads
French
Make Ahead
Dinner Party
Picnic
25 min
Active Time
35 min cook•5 hr total
Yield4 servings
Artichauts à la grecque (small artichokes cooked and chilled in a lemon-spice liquor) teaches one useful truth: sometimes the cooking liquor is the dressing. The artichokes aren't boiled and decorated afterward. They finish in water, olive oil, lemon, coriander, fennel, pepper, thyme, and bay, then cool in that same fragrant mixture. Drain it away and you have drained away the dish.
The source formula assumed twenty little artichokes and the rhythm of a cold-larder station, not a saucier, standing stock, or a salamander. Its brigade assumption was volume and extra hands. For your table, the quantity becomes eight artichokes in one nonreactive saucepan, and the lemon is measured by volume because fruit varies. The four-to-one proportion of water to oil, the flavorings, and the parboil, refresh, and 20-minute simmer remain untouched. Large tubs are scaffolding; a bowl and a fine sieve replace them. One cook, one stove, one evening.
Do not rush the cold rest. The artichokes need at least four hours in their liquor, and overnight is better, before the lemon and spices taste as though they belong inside every leaf. That chilling in the cooking liquor is the step that matters most.
Artichauts à la grecque belong to the Parisian classical hors-d'œuvre repertoire, where small vegetables were organized into named preparations and served cold at the opening of a meal. Despite the name, à la grecque does not identify a Greek national recipe; in French culinary grammar it means vegetables cooked with oil, acid, coriander, and aromatics, then cooled in their liquor. Its make-ahead ease carried the method from formal cold-larder service to bistro and home tables, where mushrooms, leeks, and cauliflower receive the same treatment.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
very small tender globe artichokes
Quantity
8 (about 1½ lb / 680 g)
each 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7.5 cm) wide
cold water
Quantity
16 cups (3.8 L / 3.8 kg)
divided between parboiling and refreshing
fresh lemon juice for the acidulated water
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 31 g)
water for the cooking liquor
Quantity
1 cup (240 ml / 240 g)
mild extra-virgin olive oil
Quantity
¼ cup (60 ml / 55 g)
fresh lemon juice for the cooking liquor
Quantity
¼ cup (60 ml / 62 g)
fine sea salt
Quantity
¾ teaspoon (3.75 ml / 4 g)
whole coriander seeds
Quantity
1 teaspoon (5 ml / 2 g)
fennel seeds
Quantity
½ teaspoon (2.5 ml / 1 g)
whole black peppercorns
Quantity
8 (about 1 g)
thyme
Quantity
1 sprig
bay leaf
Quantity
1
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| very small tender globe artichokeseach 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7.5 cm) wide | 8 (about 1½ lb / 680 g) |
| cold waterdivided between parboiling and refreshing | 16 cups (3.8 L / 3.8 kg) |
| fresh lemon juice for the acidulated water | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 31 g) |
| water for the cooking liquor | 1 cup (240 ml / 240 g) |
| mild extra-virgin olive oil | ¼ cup (60 ml / 55 g) |
| fresh lemon juice for the cooking liquor | ¼ cup (60 ml / 62 g) |
| fine sea salt | ¾ teaspoon (3.75 ml / 4 g) |
| whole coriander seeds | 1 teaspoon (5 ml / 2 g) |
| fennel seeds | ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml / 1 g) |
| whole black peppercorns | 8 (about 1 g) |
| thyme | 1 sprig |
| bay leaf | 1 |
Equipment Needed
- •Sharp paring knife and kitchen shears
- •3-quart nonreactive saucepan with lid
- •Large heatproof bowl
- •Fine-mesh colander or sieve
- •Slotted spoon
Instructions
- 1
Prepare acidulated water
Combine half the cold water with the 2 tablespoons of lemon juice in a 3-quart nonreactive saucepan. Keep it beside the cutting board. Artichoke flesh darkens almost as soon as the knife exposes it, so the acidulated water must be waiting before you begin.
- 2
Pare each artichoke
Work on one artichoke at a time. Snap away the darkest, toughest outer leaves until the paler tender leaves appear. Trim the stem to about 1 inch (2.5 cm), pare away its fibrous green skin and tidy the base, then cut about ½ inch (1.25 cm) from the leafy top so the remaining leaves are short and even. Keep the artichoke whole and plunge it immediately into the acidulated water. If a cut surface has already browned, don't discard it. Ça se rattrape: shave away the thinnest possible layer, dip the surface in the lemon water, and carry on.
These must be genuinely small, tender artichokes with no developed choke. A large mature globe is a different piece of work and will not cook evenly by this method. - 3
Parboil and refresh
Set the saucepan over high heat and bring the artichokes and acidulated water to a boil. Lower the heat enough to prevent violent bumping and parboil for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain them, transfer them immediately to a bowl holding the remaining fresh cold water, and leave them until cool. Drain once more in a fine sieve. This refresh stops the first cooking cleanly; the brigade's large tubs are scaffolding, but the cooling itself stays.
- 4
Build the cooking liquor
Rinse the saucepan, then add the 1 cup water, olive oil, ¼ cup lemon juice, salt, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, peppercorns, thyme, and bay leaf. Bring the mixture to a full boil, stirring once to dissolve the salt. This liquor is not something left behind after cooking. It is the dressing, so taste it now: bright with lemon, plainly seasoned, and fragrant with coriander and fennel.
- 5
Simmer without haste
Lower the refreshed artichokes into the boiling liquor and reduce the heat at once to a gentle simmer. Partially cover the pan and cook for 20 minutes, turning the artichokes carefully every 5 minutes so each side spends time in the shallow liquor. They are ready when a small knife enters the base with little resistance and an inner leaf pulls free without tearing. If they become tender early and the outer leaves begin to loosen, lift them into the serving bowl rather than obeying the clock; let the liquor finish simmering alone, then pour it over them. Ça se rattrape.
The liquor should tremble, not pound. A hard boil knocks the trimmed leaves apart and reduces the lemon before the artichoke hearts are tender. - 6
Chill in the liquor
Transfer the artichokes and all their cooking liquor to a heatproof bowl. Let them cool uncovered for about 20 minutes, then cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. Turn them once during chilling. This rest is the step that decides the dish: the leaves absorb the seasoned liquor as everything cools, and a merely cooled artichoke will taste dressed only on its surface.
- 7
Dress and serve cold
Remove the thyme sprig and bay leaf. Arrange the artichokes on a chilled oval dish, stir the separated liquor back together, and spoon several tablespoons over and around them, carrying a few coriander and fennel seeds onto the plate. Serve very cold as a composed salad or hors-d'œuvre, with the remaining liquor kept around the artichokes for storage. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Choose artichokes that feel heavy for their size, with tightly closed leaves and no dry split tips. Small violet poivrade artichokes are excellent when available, and tender baby globes work well; large mature globes have a developed choke and belong to another preparation.
- •Use a mild olive oil, not one that tastes fiercely bitter on its own. Cold sharpens bitterness, and the oil makes up a full quarter of the water volume in this formula, so there is nowhere for a harsh bottle to hide.
- •Leave a few coriander and fennel seeds in the liquor when you serve it. They announce the à la grecque method, but remove the woody thyme stem and bay leaf before the dish reaches the table.
- •Artichokes can make many wines taste oddly sweet. A very dry Picpoul de Pinet handles the lemon and herbal liquor well; for a picnic, cold sparkling water with a squeeze of lemon is just as sensible.
Advance Preparation
- •Make the entire dish one day ahead if possible. Keep the artichokes covered and chilled in their cooking liquor, turning them once so they season evenly; they will hold well for up to 3 days.
- •For a picnic, transport the artichokes and liquor together in a sealed container nested against ice packs. Arrange them on the serving dish and spoon over the liquor only when everyone is ready to eat.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 140g)
Calories
155 calories
Total Fat
14 g
Saturated Fat
2 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
12 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
480 mg
Total Carbohydrates
8 g
Dietary Fiber
3 g
Sugars
1 g
Protein
2 g
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