Martinis and artichokes

[JAZ]

Having posted a question for Gary and Mardee on the Q&A about matching cocktails and food, I feel I have to relate this serendipitous match.

Artichokes being on sale, I bought a couple to steam in my new pressure cooker. I made up a Meyer lemon-garlic mayonnaise sauce for them while they steamed. While they cooled, I made a martini to sip (about 4 or 5 parts Boodles gin to 1 part Noilly vermouth, drop of orange bitters). When the artichokes were cool enough to taste, I sampled a few leaves to ascertain whether the mayonnaise was seasoned correctly.

Much to my surprise, the combination of the steamed artichoke and the martini was magical. I mean -- really, really great.

The artichoke didn't make the martini taste sweet, as you might think. It did, however, give the martini a smoother, fuller mouthfeel. And the martini took away that weird aftertaste you sometimes get with artichokes.

I even tried it again the next evening with the remaining artichoke to double check, and found that I wasn't imagining things after all.

Now, of course, I'm wondering about trying a few drops of Cynar in my martinis.

[DrinkBoy]

Ok... now I know what I'm picking up on my way home tonight!.

I wonder if there is an appropriate way to garnish a Martini with artichoke? I suppose you could take a cooked artichoke, and get down to where the leaves are totally edible, clip off any bit of thorn on it, then roll it up and pierce it with a pick. Perhaps even roll it around something... perhaps a bit of smoked salmon?

-Robert

[markovitch]

or you could pat dry a small marinated artichoke heart, and pierce it.

that doesn't seem like a stretch... cocktail chokes.

[JAZ]

There must be something in the air, because I just ran across a recipe for a "martini aioli" meant to be used with shrimp, but I might just have to go get more artichokes to try this.

[Dave the Cook]

. . . martini aioli . . .

'splain, please.

[JAZ]

. . . martini aioli . . .

'splain, please.

I found the recipe in this little spiral bound book by Kathy Casey, a Seattle food stylist. Obviously I can't copy it here, but basically, you make a fairly standard garlic mayonnaise/aioli but flavored with a pinch of crushed juniper berries. Then, once it's made, you mix in a teaspoon or so of gin, some chopped pimento-stuffed olives and cocktail onions, and some parsley.

[DrinkBoy]

Had artichokes and martini's most of this weekend (I could make some sort of joke here about "choking down a few Martinis", but I won't ":-)...

I was sort of expecting one of those amazing taste combination experiences, like I remember the first time I tried chocolate with a proper Cabernet, but the pairing wasn't quite as awe inspiring as that. It was however very well balanced, and clearly represents a set of flavors that play well together. The sort of thing that allows you to easily consider artichoke based appetizers to serve with Martini's. A little further playing around showed that this medly also can be expended to include mayonnaise (I think this is part of a "bridge" flavor that was supporting the artichoke flavor with the juniper) and eggs.

A note on artichokes...

I'm not sure how many of you cook your artichokes, but I've got a secret. I grew up eating artichokes as a kid. My mom would always make them by boiling them in water, it took a long time... nearly half an hour or more. Later, when I was cooking on my own, I soon discovered that boiling vegetables is often the wrong way to do it, steaming them preserves flavor better, and so I would steam my artichokes instead (slicing them in half, and spreading them on a bamboo steamer), but it still took a long time.

Then I discovered the microwave...

Wrap a single artichoke in plastic wrap, microwave on high for 5 minutes, let set for 5 minutes, and you're done. Every microwave seems to be "just a little bit" different, so you may need to play around a little bit with the timing to get this the way you want it, but it works great for me. (note that unlike boiling or steaming, increasing the number of artichokes in the microwave will also require an increase in the amount of time to cook them in.)

[JAZ]

I was sort of expecting one of those amazing taste combination experiences, like I remember the first time I tried chocolate with a proper Cabernet, but the pairing wasn't quite as awe inspiring as that. It was however very well balanced, and clearly represents a set of flavors that play well together. The sort of thing that allows you to easily consider artichoke based appetizers to serve with Martini's. A little further playing around showed that this medly also can be expended to include mayonnaise (I think this is part of a "bridge" flavor that was supporting the artichoke flavor with the juniper) and eggs.

Yes, I realized later that the mayonnaise sauce was key with the match. I tried marinated artichokes with a martini, and the results were good, but not as great as my original try. The "martini aioli" is a good "bridge," as DrinkBoy puts it.

And so is a tiny splash of Cynar in the martini, if you happen to have it on hand.

Actually, I've gotten rather fond of the Cynar Martini, with or without artichokes to accompany it. I find the Cynar works best with a minimum of vermouth, and even works in place of vermouth, if you add a bit more.