Growing an Ancient Roman Garden
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ส.ค. 2022
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LINKS TO INGREDIENTS & EQUIPMENT**
Garum: amzn.to/3BUp7xF
Dried Rue: amzn.to/3dlC4Xh
Long Pepper: amzn.to/3Ad5rnL
LINKS TO SOURCES**
Apicius De re Coquinaria: amzn.to/3bJunK0
RECIPE
1 tablespoon chopped Rue
1 teaspoon Celery Seeds
2 teaspoon Honey
½ tsp Pepper
1 cup or more of Raisin wine
2 teapoons garum
2 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 heaping tablespoon of Wheat Starch or cornstarch
4 Artichokes
1. Remove the stem and top inch of each artichoke and boil in well salted water for 40 min to 1 hour. They are done when a leaf at the bottom of the artichoke can easily be removed with very little effort. Set them on a wire rack and cool for 1 minute, then turn them over and let them drain and cool for 10 more minutes.
2. To make the sauce, mix the rue, celery seeds, and pepper together in a small saucepan, then add the olive oil, honey, garum and raisin wine and heat over a low heat until simmering. Whisk the starch into 2-4 tablespoons of raisin wine, then add it to the simmering sauce and whisk until it begins to thicken. Note that it will continue to thicken as it cools.
3. Once the sauce is ready, pour a little on top of the artichokes and sprinkle pepper over them. Keep most of the sauce on the side for dipping.
**Some of the links and other products that appear on this video are from companies which Tasting History will earn an affiliate commission or referral bonus. Each purchase made from these links will help to support this channel with no additional cost to you. The content in this video is accurate as of the posting date. Some of the offers mentioned may no longer be available.
Subtitles: Jose Mendoza | IG @worldagainstjose
PHOTO CREDITS
Apicius: By Bonho1962 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Ice Wine Grapes: By Dominic Rivard from Bangkok, Thailand - icewine grapes3, CC BY-SA 2.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Getty Villa: Bobak Ha'Eri, CC BY 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons
Lovage: By 4028mdk09 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Tall Lovage: By Anra2005 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
#tastinghistory #ancientrome
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Max, as well as being an artist, I am a garden designer and avid gardener. I've grown almost all the herbs you spoke of and I want to warn you about borage. Grow it in a pot. It can be terribly invasive! If you need any free advice on designing your roman garden give me a holler. I love the Getty Villa and I've visited the gardens of Pompeii in the days before tourism went crazy. Make sure you build a little arbor somewhere for your grapevines for having meals and cocktails alfresco!!! Good Luck!
I found out the hard way that borage likes to spread itself rather eagerly. I was warned about it, so I planted it away from everything else, but where I lived was rather exposed to wind, so I soon found borage seeded all over the place. Lovely flowers, but the miniscule needles on it leaves made it difficult to deal with. I had to move not too long after, so it became the following tenant's problem.
I'd totally buy it again just for the beautiful flowers, if I could contain its enthusiasm for spreading.
@@ChakatSandwalker it’s good planted with tomatoes.
I second growing borage in a pot
It spreads via seed, and looks beautiful all over the garden. If you know how to ID the seedlings, it’s easy to control, and you can let it stay when it volunteers in desirable spots. The bees love it, and it produces lots of good organic matter for your compost and/or mulch. When kids visit the garden they love to find out you can eat the pretty little blue flowers (taste like cucumber) 😊 Borage is a great friend in the garden - I recommend!
I grow Borage (Borago officinalis ) for our local Bee 🐝 population as it is on of the first to flower in spring in my garden.
My mum worked as a domestic maid in Rome and that's where she learnt to cook artichokes. After washing them, she'll leave them in a container filled with water and chopped lemon, so I imagine that's how she deals with the oxidation. I'm wondering if the water also helps with contact with the air? Didn't know it could stain hands though. She'd never seen them in her little town up in Udine. We've enjoyed what she learnt as a teen ever since! (She's 87 and it's time I got the recipe!!)
Thank you for sharing the artichoke technique but aside from that she’s from Udine? Udine is a beautiful small city! We were lucky enough to discover it during a visit in 2008.
Yep, citric acid will prevent artichokes (and apples) from going black. As my mum - who would be 84 if she were still alive - taught me. Hope you get the recipe - artichokes are my favourite vegetable, especially the spiny Sardinian ones.
Yep, fill a cup with water and squeeze a lemon into it. Soak your (clean!) hands inside it, prepare the artichokes and put them in the cup for 10 minutes before cooking.
The term is "oxidizing".
Ah... Lemon juice. the most versatile antioxidant.
"If Pliny the Elder can be trusted, which he usually can't" might be the best line in the entire episode. Almost missed it and had to go back to double check haha
For once, he’s actually right! Sort of… it’s more that it releases bloating.
I would love a Pliny the elder TH-cam channel, he would thrive in these days hahahahah
@@anapauladesouza829 making his slaves film him vlogging in the bath sounds like Pliny Senior all over, like he made them transcribe him in the bath irl. Father of the 'rise and grind'
Rue is such a special herb, I had it in my garden for years. The smell can be qite strong and kind of refreshing in summer. But on sunny days, you should be careful not to touch it with bare skin Because the sun increases the output of essential oils on the leaves. It can make your skin more sensitive to sunlight, you could get a rash or even sunburn.
Traditionally rue was planted on borders to keep animals or nasty neighbours out. It can grow rather big, and won´t transplant easily. It is a plant that teaches you to stand your ground. That´s why some people say, if you plant rue, you are looking for a fight. But I never regretted planting it, I loved the smell. You just have to be respectful, it´s not a spinach or cabbage after all.
Thank you for an interesting post!
"You'll rue the day you planted rue."
But seriously, I don't plant anything that is not a good healthy vegetable that my family can eat lots of.
As always you produced a great video! May I suggest that the next time you prepare artichokes you also cook the stem…. As the outer layer of the stem is tough, it needs to be pealed. I use a potato pealed to do that. The pealed stem is as tender and delicious as the Artichoke heart. With this in mind when shopping for artichokes I ALWAYS select hearts with the bigger or longer stems! Give it a try!
Larry
Oooooo good to know. I live next to the crazy cat lady in my neighborhood and i HATE outdoor cats. They p*ss on everything 😖 and before the crazy cat lady Cavalry tries to reply to this- YOU ARE INSANE IF YOU THINK YOUR OUTDOOR CAT DOESNT DO THIS TO YOUR NEIGHBORS. Truly, truly insane. KEEP THE POOR THINGS INSIDE BEFORE THEY GET EATEN OR BURNED BY THE NEIGHBOR'S NEW RUE PLANT!
I think you should try growing asafoetida. Not only is it the closest living relative to silphium but I noticed that a lot of the roman recipes that require silphium want it fresh or even the juice of the silphium, and as most asafoetida is only available dry having it fresh would expand your options when recreating roman dishes.
I second this
....have you ever actually smelt it? I wouldn't want that in my garden
In another comment reply, he says he’s growing asafetida, it just needs time! :D
Also, an important ingredient in Johnny Diamond's recipe to sober a man up.
I don't think anyone actually knows for sure what plants silphium was related to
If there's any chance the cats, Jaime and Cercei, could get into the garden, it could be worth running the list of herbs by a veterinarian specializing in toxicology (such as ASPCA poison control. That way, you would have the pertinent information incase an emergency were to occur.
Quick google, lovage is poisonous for cats.
I second this. There are many things I don't grow because my cats chew on everything. They like trying things out.
@@TealCheetah I must try growing it in my garden!
@@lmp8932 Its TOXIC to cats
Yeah. My morning glories are on lock down.
After googling Priapus I have to say my favorite thing about how he was depicted was how he would use his… extra limb… to help carry bundles of fruits and vegetables haha. Creative way of tying his areas of expertise together!
Sounds like the Egyptian god Min
Look ma, no hands!
My dad was a hick from southern Spain, and he taught me to eat artichokes raw. Yes, you can. Cut off the stem, snap off the first few leaves (which usually don't have much of a base), and then scrape the leaves just as you would cooked ones. The taste is fresh, green, woody, and unique. I like it WAY more than cooked artichokes, myself. :)
P.S. I've been eating raw artichokes most of my life and I've never had my fingers turn black. I've never seen any effect on my hands from handling the artichokes, so I'm not sure where this idea got started.
I wonder if only certain people's skin reacts to it.
Aye, I have never had this problem with artichokes either. Maybe its some varieties, but I suspect its a persistent kitchen myth. Kinda like metal knives browning lettuce, which amusingly spawned its own mini-industry of ceramic and plastic kitchen knives. No matter how hard I have tried, I have never been able to find a knife that browns lettuce when you cut it.
Hick From Southern Spain sounds like a really campy action movie.
Been eating Artichokes since I was a kid, never had an issue with blackening fingers
@@spencerleava2502 You have to turn your knife into a hunk of rust first. Then no problem turning lettuce brown.
I had to google what Rue is, and honestly I had a laugh. This plant is very, very common here in Brazil, to the point where it grows everywhere without much care. I had no idea it could be used for cooking! We use it for teas, medicinal practice, and I believe in some religious cerimonies
Quando ele falou de Rue eu não fazia ideia que era só arruda!
Rue Bath is very famous as a cleansing of the spirit kinda thing (Não sei como se traduz mal olhado pro inglês kkkkkkkk)
I have some Rue that took off in my garden, I have not even *thought* about what to do with it. It's been surviving pretty well with no issues too. Any ideas what I should do with it since I got a bunch? Lol
@@zelithfang2365 Sell it as abortion pills?
@@ShebbaRod mau olhado é evil eye.
As a child my grandmother had three kinds of mint in her garden and I remember trying to eat the pineapple and chocolate varieties thinking they would taste exactly like candy. They did not and I was just sitting there eating handfuls of leaves.
LOL! I love this, because I did the exact same thing! 🤣
I have both of those kinds and while they don't taste exactly like those things they make a lovely tea. I find chocolate mint particularly flavorful.
@@ambersutton4853 Ooh! Do you dry the leaves first? I may try growing some next year to try it out. I love mint tea. 😍
🤣
Yeah I get it! Same here but we mostly figured out that it's the scent that's the most accurate. We must have close to 10 varieties of mint including wild mints. One of our favourite is the ginger mint. It's spicy like ginger and really turns out beautifully in hot water.
@@ambersutton4853 I absolutely adore mint tea! I wonder if I could find any blends with it.
I would love to see you make authentic natural Marshmallows. Like most people I didn't know they were plants.
Yes please
Thanks again. I work in a Roman museum in Wales and we have a garden with rue, borage, lovage, artichokes, fennel etc. I have used some of it when following your Roman recipes. So thanks for yet another idea!
Having access to a greater variety of fresh herbs will be great! Congrats on your new garden 🪴
Just be careful! You need the gloves when handling rue more than artichokes, as the juice of Rue can cause photo sensitization. Ie you get a blistering sunburn, even if you wash it off, and up to days later, from having the juice on your hands.
It's not as bad as wild carrot or hogsweed but it's not pleasant and can scar.
edit: also, on the practical side of things, there are lots of herbs that are less popular for growing because they feed certain species of butterflies. Which means the garden really attracts some beautiful butterflies! but it can really mess with your harvesting when bugs discover that you don't spray your plants since you plan on eating it yourself. Expect to spend a lot of time looking for caterpillars and checking the undersides of leaves for eggs.
Evidently I spent too much time in "The South" as a child, I was listening to Max while writing some database queries and I had to stop and go back as my poor, poor brain processed " . . . honey, pepper, add passum, garum, and a little oil" as " . . . honey, pepper, add *possum*, garum, and a little oil" and I had to suddenly be concerned that Max had found a cookbook from *Rhome, Texas" instead of "Rome, Italy"
😄
Ah hell nah they cooking my ass!
@@afatpossum2586 Glad to see there are possums of culture out there.
I heard opossum too, but I was paying attention to the screen so quickly corrected myself haha
LOL. He would have found his artichokes greasy. At least that's what my relatives say about eating possum back in the day
As a child, when congested, my mum used to make us tea from the dried mallow flower. We liked it very much as it has a mysterious purple/blue colour and a nice honey taste. It is safe for young kids as well.
Globe mallow, rather than Marsh Mallow?
I find the fact that lovage is rare in the US so interesting. I am Romanian and we use it in a LOT of foods (especially stews and soups) out here
.
It's extremely rare in the Americas in general. I got a lovage plant in my herbs patch (I'm from S.Am.), and people consistently ask me what is it.
It's also used in German cuisine; for soups and mushroom dishes
It's becoming more popular due to permaculture
Normal in sweden to. Get less common with lots if old recipies not used any more and that is becouse harder to find in supermarket i guess. Used to be easy to find but get less common. Me never liked it so never bought it exept try it before but nah not my taste. But gardennstors allways have them for garden herbs in summer
@@AnniCarlssonThe garden stores in Sverige are amazing. As are the ones in italia.
As another latinoamerican (Argentina) I was surprised when you mentioned Rue as a weird thing... I mean, in my house alone we have like 4 o 5 plants just randomly everywhere lol
They supposedly protect against bad vibes and shit like that if you plant them in front of your house, and we drink Caña con Ruda the 1st of August for the same reason. I didn't know you could use it for regular cooking.
Old people also say they only thrive in "good energy" places bc they suck up the bad vibes, you know. So a healthy Rue means a healthy house.
Che viejo que verga es rue? No tengo idea como se llamara en español
@@belthesheep3550 Ruda!
@@Moccashio Gracias
I wonder if withering rue plants have been used in soap operas about dysfunctional households…
I grow lovage in my garden, it's an awesome herb to use instead of a stockcube. Here in Sweden, lovage were supposed to be planted on the east side of the front door, and it was thought to then prevent witches and evil to enter the house.
Oh, and your shouldn't hold Rue without gloves, as it contains an oil that make your skin sensitive to light.
I know this is an old video, but if you keep up with your comments, I want to say thank you for growing rare herbs. You are keeping them alive for other generations. Also, your old picture of you in college is sooo cute! Stay well, my favorite history chef.
Thanks Damien!
If you have a large pot, I recommend keeping some of the stem on the artichokes. The outer stem is woody, but the inside has the same consistency as the artichoke heart
You won't be disappointed by planting rue, it's turned out to be quite the hardy perennial for me. Getting ready to harvest the seeds to see if I can get them propagated. I love how you've highlighted many herbs I've planted in this video!
Same!
Yeah I have it where I am, family planted it maybe a year ago, it's going strong and this is in Washington. We haven't used to since we just randomly bought it, knew it was rare, but had no clue what to use it for.
I've been growing Rue for years and it has self-sown many times, giving me many babies to share. I love it.
Angie, have you ever had an allergic reaction from Rue? I work at a nursery, and a colleague was cleaning the rue we had for sale, and got a terrible reaction on her hands, and was out of work for a couple of weeks!! I haven't seen any other mentions of the allergic qualities here, so maybe she was just hyper sensitive.
@@didisinclair3605 I have read that the sap of the plant can cause some people to be photo-sensitive. I always wear gloves when handling as I am fair skinned and prone to easily sunburn anyway. Don't want to take the chance.
Max, Could it be you picked the wrong kind of artichoke? I think Romans would mostly use the smaller, purple variety. They still do. That would also explain the pouring of the sauce on top, as you can eat the leaves whole. Sorry about being the artichoke police here, I’m a huge fan of your channel.
Most fruits and berries used to be much smaller, but also often of higher nutritional value (but not in terms of calories) and more intense taste/scent. We used to supersize them and increase their calories at the expense of all other properties including resistance to pests...
@@edi9892 True, but globe and purple artichokes are two different kettle of fish. The purple ones grow on the banks of the Mediterranean, they use up little water and withstand a lot of sun. The globes are happier North of Paris, in a lot of rain.
You may be on to something. When I was in Florence I had their famous artichokes. They were small and SO yummy.
The purple ones are great! Plus their color is really set off in the garden especially with fennel and borage nearby. Could look really pretty.
I didn’t know there were various artichokes so maybe Max also didn’t know
My husband is Italian and he can assure you that you have a genuine Roman garden; it's full of concrete. As the ancient saying goes, "I came, I saw, I concreted."
My grandmother grows rue in her garden in South Africa. She is from Lucca originally. She would make a tisane with rue and malva leaves (family of the marshmallow plant) to help with stomach problems like aching and indigestion. Malva leaves with chamomile would were used for abdominal pain, either lady pains or intestinal pains. Herbs and tisanes are an important part of my kitchen thanks to her. This was a fun video. I really enjoy the ancient Rome topics.
I recommend your choice of borage. The blue flowers taste like cucumbers and are really pretty in salads or drinks. The young leaves can be dipped in batter and deep-fried: makes a good accompaniment to aperatives.
They also bloom a long time and keep bumblebees happy. Bumblebees are the best pollinators for tomatoes and other stuff in the nightshade family, because they are heavy enough to do "buzz pollination."
I adore the Getty. I've gone pretty often while getting a PhD in classical languages. It's kept me going through grad school, just to remember what beautiful spaces and things the Greeks and Romans had.
The Vizcaya in Miami is similar, my son was fighting all mention of "museum", but when he was effectively turned loose in the gardens it was all good.
Some of the Greeks and Romans. The equivalent of the Gettys today... (coincidentally, I live near another Getty home - Wormsley Park. I wish my house was like that...)
We found Rue one year at 99 cents Store of all places. It is still growing in our yard, although we have never seen it fresh in a store, since. We have found it in few yards. Really enjoy that you are covering this obscure and interesting plant. It is surprisingly hardy in So Cal.
Rue has a massive amount of folklore attached to it. It’ll keep snakes and cats from your garden, and can enliven love philtres. In Medieval times, it was sometimes used as an aspergillum to scatter holy water on a congregation, because it’s also known as ‘the herb of grace’, although witches were said to use a sprig to identify each other in public.
I hope you don’t come to regret growing it!
"I Borage bring courage", a medieval saying. The flowers were also served on a Sallat of Greens. There are known to make people a bit "happy", I've grown it for many years. Marshmallow is also used for coughs and bronchial congestion, either steeped in wine and taken as a cordial or mixed with sugar, it gets a bit gelatinous when steeping.
I don't think I've ever felt these alleged effects of borage. Also, I regret growing it, honestly. It reseeds like a mofo, tried to take over my yard but the bermuda grass ultimately won out while I was sick...
Borage attracts bees and other pollinators, and also aphids, keeping them off your vegetables. Borage flowers are beautiful and delicious, frozen in ice cubes to garnish your drinks.
Extremely fond of the marshmallow plant, to the extent that I can't bring myself to harvest the roots of mine.
@@00muinamir I have been trying to grow Borage in a pot, and I have had absolutely no luck, so hearing you have too much is kind of funny to me - I can't get the thing to grow, and you can't stop it.
The gelatinous-ness of Marshmallow is part of what's supposed to help with coughs - it coats the throat with a mucus that you don't have to produce, which helps protect and sooth it.
My father grew borage for the first time this year. He grew it for the bees and to try to deter the deer. They love his bean plants.
I didn't know it can deter deer. We have quite a few deer in my town and they like to eat our garden plants and some of my mom's flowers. We like looking at the deer, and we leave them alone, but it would be nice to find a way to deter them from the garden without hurting them. We don't want to hurt them at all.
It's so funny to me that you see lovage as an exotic/ancient herb that you want for your special garden. Here, in Romania, it's absolutely everywhere and dirt cheap. About 20 cents a bunch at any corner supermarket! Lots of love from Eastern Europe, Max 💚
Rue is very popular in Brazilian folklore, it's said to protect against the evil eye and bad spirits in general, and in some places the branches were used to apply holy water by priests in church (it's said most of these beliefs are of African origin as well). My own grandmother and mother had it at home, and sometimes used it to prevent indigestion (and sometimes also boldo and wormwood). It's SO bitter I can't imagine to eat in a dish lol
It's Portuguese in origin, the Azorean tradition of my region is to grow Rue in front of your house to keep witches away
@@riograndedosulball248 yeah, the plant is native to Southern Europe, it makes no sense for Africa to have any rituals related to it, lol
Evil eye? Dang, didn't know Brazil took Tolkien so seriously.
@@vane909090 you’re probably being sarcastic but just to inform you, it’s not the eye of Sauron. The evil eye is a belief that’s a part of many cultures, ie Latin America, West Asia, West Africa, and the Mediterranean.
@@cheetos888 Europe too. Many of the so called 'witches' met their fate because a neighbour accused them of ill wishing them and giving them the evil eye. They called it something else though, and I can't find the term. I want to say Over looking, but that has a completely different meaning now and that is all you get if you google. I have read the term in Witchcraft trial histories and remember thinking 'If that is all they did, I and millions of others would have been singed a thousand times over!' We would say they gave them a 'dirty look'
It's really interesting that the Ancient herbs like lovage, (Liebstöckel) und Marshmallow (Eibischkraut ) are totally common herbs wich I regularly use a an chef in Austria. Maybe by Lovage ist more common.
If you make an clear beef soup without the Lovage in my region people are disappointed.
And again I got new interesting perspective on food.
Thank!
Interesting. Lovage is also commonly used in Switzerland, but we call it Maggikraut.
@@marmotarchivist yes that I what I learned it as too. And it does remind me of Maggi. I use it in meat balls and soups. We have one plant in the garden. It only grows about 5 ft tall in Edmonton Alberta.
@@marmotarchivist Its also called Maggikraut in Austria. Depends on who you ask. There may be the one who says Levisticum. :)
Yup, I also cook with Loveage, since I found a herbs mixture from a big Herbcompany (Wiberg) in Austria. The Blend is called "wilde Kräuter" and is totally nuts. There is of course Loveage in it and also Schabzigerklee wich both provide the taste of umami.
Hey thanks for telling me the names of them in Austrian because I like to know traditional names of plants. Can I get a recipe for the clear beef soup with Lovage?
"But if you're an adrenaline junkie like me, (I am not)". I actually laughed out loud. And college age baby adult Max is so adorable!
I'm grateful that my neighborhood friend's mother introduced me to artichokes when I was 6 years old. I still like her simple dipping sauce the best (this was in 1966 before all the current food warnings). Per person: one raw egg yolk mixed well with one capful of apple cider vinegar and a good bit of salt. I like it on asparagus also.
I LOVE this idea. I've been doing something similar for a while now, as I am a unani herbalist (an herbalist in the greco-arab tradition) and many of the herbs I use in my life are not widely available online. So I have been growing many mediteranean herbal plants. Being from Syria the ancient roman influence runs deeeeep in our culture and we still use many of the herbs, spices, and veggies you talk about. One herb suggestion- definitely plant a damask rose. maybe more than one though they can get big if they like where they are. Good luck in the garden!
Your occupation sounds very interesting!
And I love your profile picture! 😻
OK I just discovered your occupation was a thing, and now I absolutely need to check it more in-depth because it sounds very interesting, and being Mediterranean myself (from Northern Catalonia, living in Provence atm), I am very interested in knowledge and tradition of the Mediterranean region in general!
Much love to Syria from Greece we share a very long and wonderful history together.
Every time I watch this channel I learn something new! I wasn't aware that, in the US lovage is not commonly known! Iam from Austria and loveage "Liebstöckel" in german, in Austria known as "Maggikraut", because it gives an umami flavor and compliments meat dishes very well. You can find it here in nearly every herb garden. It is a key ingredient in making tasty beef broth or soup! A little bit boosts up the flavour! Also in meatsauces of any kind! Good luck in growing it! Iam sure you will find interesting recipes with it. Greetings from Austria 🇦🇹
HI gabak I'm from England. I love old fashioned herbs and have lovage in my little garden. I must confess I haven't really experimented a lot with it except to put it into boiling water with potatoes or to sprinkle over them but this year I have collected the seeds and will try to use them in different dishes. The herb English Mace is very unusual too.
@@dulciemidwinter1925 I use the leafs of loveage in my homemade soup seasoning. Sometimes I put it even in the Spaghetti sauce. English mace isn't very common around here, but sometimes I see it in a garden. I will look up English mace too! Thank you for the tip!
In France we call livèche 'herbe à Maggi', too - the flavor of Maggi stock cubes! it's also known as 'perpetual celery'.
@@chezmoi42 oh wow! I never knew lovage was in it. Mind you I don't think I knew anything about lovage when I was young. Lovage in the 60's was never in my garden or known about anymore than was garlic or anything else for sale in Britain. Thyme and rosemary, borage, fennel was known and mixed dried herbs de Provence were available but others were very unusual and almost impossible to come by. We always had access to spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, juniper and have had for centuries but further afield ones were hard to come by such as they wete not used in British cuisine and often were almost unknown. Even ones we take for granted now were difficult to come by. I .remember staying with friends in the 70's in Bognor and we scoured the area looking for fresh garlic to no avail. I think sometimes we take for granted how lucky we are to be able to buy fresh basil and other herbs and spices as well as all the exotic vegetables. It would be a sorry retrograde step if we let this happen again. Fingers crossed it will never come to that.
@@chezmoi42 That is also the reason why lovage is called " Maggiekraut" in Austria.😁
I love how you incorporated some of the aspects of actually growing the food in this video. I know your focus is on history, but that might be a good framework to also dive a little more into how and where and when food was grown in different places, especially in this day and age where many of us have become so disconnected with the sources of the food that we eat. Also, I love artichokes! On the way home from the coast growing up, we'd always stop by "the artichoke capital of the world" to get some fresh artichokes to steam at home for dinner that night (as well as fried artichoke hearts).
I live about 15 minutes from Castroville, the capital, and artichokes are a weekly dinner staple for us. Love it lightly steamed then cut in half and grilled. I like to sprinkle grated bleu cheese on it when prepared this way. Delish!
So…funny story. I started growing Rue a couple months ago and I’m not sure if it’s the area I’m in or what but it seemed like it took forever for it to gain any kind of height to it. However, I had a friend over the other day as she wanted to pick some of my herbs and I was showing it to her and I thought that it was tall enough that I felt safe trying a tiny piece of it. 🥴 Instantly my tongue went numb and I told her but she still decided to try it too. 😂 A few minutes of our conversation were a bit slurred, but it did have a nice after taste. 10/10 still can’t wait to try cooking something with it. I just thought it was funny that this happened to me the day before yesterday and then I saw your video!
i've cooked artichokes for YEARS and have NEVER had them turn my hands black or discolor them in any way. i had no idea they even did that. 🤨 maybe if you don't wash your hands after handling them... 🤔
I've been eating tons of them the past few years, like tonight is probably our 10th artichoke dinner of the season, my hands never stain.
Yeah, I mean it's got some tannins in it, but I feel like opening a pomegranate is way, way worse.
Do enough of em and your hands do go black. Chef speaking 😂🙄
Interesting recipe…I’ve been growing Rue in my Herb Garden for years! I love it. I revere that plant like no other. Check out the Growers Exchange in the U.S…..every year they have a wide range of different kinds of herbs…. Every time I’ve needed something I couldn’t find, I was able to get it there.
One advantage of growing herbs that you can find at the grocery is that you can pick them right before using them so they are as fresh as can be. You also know the history of each plant, i.e. what kind of soil it's been grown in and what chemicals it has or has not been exposed to and when it was picked. And, if you're drying herbs, you know the process used in drying each one and how they've been stored prior to use. Plus, certain herbs, like lavender, give such a wonderful scent to your garden.
“I beg your pardon, I never promised you a Roman garden…🎵🎶” great, now Max can rue the day.
I lovage a good pun. Most people seem to find them borage though
Lovage is my favorite herb. I use it in soups and stews for a huge boost of flavor. It also pairs incredibly well with tomatoes, cooked or uncooked. Homemade spaghetti sauce just doesn't taste right without Lovage and crumbled Black Trumpets. A tomato bisque with a handful of Lovage is wonderful (you can use stems in soups, just take them out after cooking or chop them up, as they are a little tough and have given up their flavor). Also add a few leaves to salads and to cooked greens. I forgot to cut back the flowers this year, and turns out the seeds are very tasty, reminiscent of celery seeds, but better.
I used to have a lovage plant, but it got eaten by fire ants...those things are relentless - they took out my lavender too the next year!
What are Black Trumpets?
@@Amy_the_Lizard The only creature that has ever munched on the Lovage was a Black Swallowtail caterpillar. It ate about a third of it. Thank goodness we don't have fire ants.
@@brucetidwell7715 A mushroom that fruits under beech trees. One of the best.
Yes! I put it in almost every broth i make.
And thank you for the idea to use the seeds
Oh Max, lovage is my favorite! I prefer it dried as it's much milder that way. I always dry a bunch because jars of dried lovage make great gifts. When I add it to soups in winter, it's like adding a taste of summer. I got a live piece from a local heritage garden and it got huge. It is a very hardy perennial. When I decided to move my lovage I tried to dig up the whole plant and I found that the roots went down so deep that I couldn't get it all. Each piece of root made a new plant. So make sure you plant it in a place at the back of the garden where it can be your forever herb. Cut off the seeds so it doesn't spread and the seeds can be used in cooking like celery seed.
Don't forget bay - that would be a Roman classic. I have a bay tree in a big pot so it can come inside in winter. I bought it from a nursery ten years ago and it's the crowning glory of my kitchen herbs. Nothing beats fresh bay leaves for cooking.
What an absolute treat of a video. Would love to see more of Gardening History! As someone in a zone 4A, I am racked with envy at the stuff you're able to grow.
Max, my friend, you are a master when it comes to hooking your audience. From the first word to last, in every video, you've captured my attention. Chapeau bas! In Lebanon we dip our artichokes in a crushed garlic, lemon and olive oil sauce, which is sublime, but, as always, you've roused my curiosity for Roman funk. Now all I have to do is figure out what the Arabic for Rue is.
The botanical name is Ruta graveolens, if that helps. Common names can vary by language.
I have 3 Lovage plants growing here in the UK, I'd say it has a more savory taste than celery, they are related plants, I'd even go as far to say it has a very slight curry taste to it. Probably one of my favourite herbs.
Borage grows like a weed in my garden, the bees love it, as does my Pimms, always put borage flowers in Pimms.
Love the show Max!
This spice plant rue ( tenadam in amharic and chenadam in tigrinia is widely cultivated in east africa to be specific in ethiopia and eritrea. It is used as a culinary herb to flavor milk, cottage cheese, coffee and tea and a local beverage, as a medicinal purposes and more. Thank you for taking me down to memory lane. It brouoght a lot of fond memories. I love what you do very much.
I can confirm that the Magic Spoon cereal is AMAZING though my favorite flavors are peanut butter and cocoa, yes i mix them together. There are many other flavors too.
I can also confirm they honor the satisfaction guarantee. My sister bought some of the new magic spoon cereal bars to try in flavors peanut butter and i think cookies and cream. We were shocked by how bitter they are compared to how delicious the cereal is. It reminded me of tasting the 80-90% cacao baking chocolate level of bitter. They refunded us for the bars without any fuss and said they recorded our feedback.
I hope that we got a bad batch or that they figure out a better way to sweeten the bars. Honestly if anyone can do it they can.
man those super bitter cocoa cereal bars sound great to me 😂
"...even if you're just talking to a camera." Aww, Max! It was lovely to see a bit of your sense of humor pop out there! By the by, the typical conversion of fresh to dried herbs is 1 part fresh to 1/3 part dried. (I noticed you said 1 Tb of fresh, or 2 tsp of dried. Customarily it'd be 1 Tb fresh, or 1 tsp dried. But perhaps you had another reason to use more, I don't know.)
I just love your channel, Max! I had never known the connection between the marshmallow plant and the modern-day marshmallow confection. So interesting! Thank you for another superb video. We all appreciate your hard work.
Max! I grow lovage and borage in the far north. The lovage is SO hardy that is survived -35 Celsius and it’s about 6 feet tall. Delicious in soups, stews and especially venison. The borage self seeds itself every year and I plant it near tomatoes and zucchini. It’s beautiful and the bumblebees LOVE it. I really enjoy your videos. Hope you are enjoying Scotland! 🤗
I'm in Scotland & yup, lovage is pretty hard to kill. Mine grew so vigorously that I had to keep chopping it back. Shame as its a herb I rarely use.
Hardiness zone 6 here, both borage and lovage grow great, borage turned quickly into weed, actually.
Yes my hardiness zone is 3 and both do well here.
In my 50 years of eating and making artichokes - I've never once had them turn my hands black....or have they turned black. Wash them, trim them and into a pot of boiling water with olive oil and minced onion. When a fork goes in them like nothing, they're ready. Serve with melted butter. Easiest meal to make really.
Borage is such a marvelous plant. It will reseed and show up next year, bigger, more exuberant, and ready to fill every space possible. The blossoms are delightful and we like them frozen into ice cubes and used to brighten a pitcher of water on a hot day. And, of course, the greatest advantage is that borage is beloved by pollinators. I'm looking forward to hearing about your adventures with ancient herbs. The heart of my garden is the herb bed. If you grow wormwood, be aware that some sources advise against growing it in the same plot as root vegetables because the substance that makes it poisonous will leach into the soil, and thus into the vegetables.
You have the most wholesome and informative channel. I've never not enjoyed one of your videos and watched many of them more than once. Great work as always. 😄
my favorite video was the one about Kykeon. oh that face Max made when he tried it! 😂🤣
I love artichokes so much, I’m definitely trying this recipe!
My circus troupe and I just went to Scotland, and we visited Greyfriar Cemetery while we were there. The church on the property has a medieval herb and foodstuffs garden, and they had lovage and borage growing there! I definitely freaked out when I saw those.
Greyfriar Cemetery is such a lovely place! Seems weird to say about an old cemetery, yet I found it rather peaceful. My husband and I did a long walk through on our honeymoon in ‘09. We didn’t go on an official tour or anything, but I had read some things about it beforehand. We must have missed the garden! Which means that the next time we make it to Edinburgh, we’ll just have to go for another visit! 😄
"My circus troupe and I just went to Scotland" is not the start of a sentence that you see often.
@@Dawn_Hannah I spent at least an hour there most days of our stay in Edinburgh. It was so peaceful and relaxing. We did a ghost tour of it one night in the pouring rain and that was also marvelous.
@@egregius9314 - Yes! @Emma McGinley should expand it into a novel.
Hi Max!
You may have already covered this, but it would be so interesting to look into the history of the British roast dinner - it’s eaten every Sunday (if you follow tradition). I feel like most people don’t know the history behind the meal they eat every week!
14:31 OMG they are so cute with their chubby little baby leaves.
Since Max loves artichokes, here's a recent accidental discovery. If you enjoy cocktail sauce with cold shrimp, you might be surprised at how similar having cold cooked artichoke slices with cocktail sauce is. For vegans and vegetarians, an alternative for enjoying cocktail sauce at parties is now yours!!! I love cocktail sauce more than the shrimp, so this is an amazing alternative. Enjoy!
I love shrimp on pizza and sometimes in pasta, but I don't really like it in any other dishes. I never really thought about how similar the taste is. perhaps I should just go full artichoke instead?
Not sure people are going to prepare their artichokes and bring them with them to parties. Especially since they need to find out if there will be shrimp cocktails served.
Good to know! My family member has shellfish allergies, so shrimp isn't an option when we're entertaining.
@@johnr797 I envision for those hosting the party to prepare and serve. Costco sells a jarred cooked artichoke that could be used in a pinch, just cutting the halves into pieces shaped similar to shrimp. Let the marinate liquid drain completely. Serve with a cocktail sauce to dip like shrimp. I would add those fancy cocktail toothpicks or a bamboo toothpick to make it easy to grab as well as look fancy. Very little effort compared to steaming the raw artichokes.so, not so hard to offer to guests.
@@ashleya3236 One of the tastiest things to dip into cocktail sauce is raw cauliflower! Broken up into smallish flowerets and dipped it almost has a mouthfeel of crunchy shrimp, and raw cauliflower has almost no taste.
Starting an herb garden and a band! I can't wait to see Musky Funk on tour.
Oh my gosh! From a former neighbor (I lived in Studio City!) I just love watching your channel, and I was so excited to see the Getty Villa featured! The garden tour is just fabulous - highly recommended, and interesting even for the non-gardeners in the group. So glad to see all the good things happening for you and can't wait for the cookbook! Thank you for being awesome. :)
As an avid artichoke fan, I've got to say I've never had my hands stained by them. Also, please tell me you cooked those stems. They're good too.
Artichokes are one of my favorite vegetables! I didn't know artichokes could oxidize and stain like that, I only just trim the stem and steam them when I make them without cutting the tops. I'd love to try that sauce next time I make any!! Looks really tasty
I have just recently started to binge this gem of a channel, extremely pleased with your work, please try more Indian dishes, they have very interesting histories.
Some of my first non-European were Indian recipes, delicious and fascinating
i was lucky enough to start watching this channel at the 3rd video. trust me, you'll just keep enjoying it more and more as time goes on. welcome to the Tasting History family! my favorite video is the one about Kykeon. oh that face that Max made when he tried it... Priceless! which episode is your favorite so far?
@@JohnLeePettimoreIII I shall make a point to watch the one about kykeon, my favorite one till now is the Parmesan Ice Cream, not only because of the multi-era history and the taste reaction followed by the Montgomery Burns Quote but also because I am planning to make it for an Indian Festival named Ganesh Chaturthi, very excited
This is super interesting cuz we've always had rue herbs growing in our garden. I did not know it was so popular in roman cooking! My mom makes 'te de ruda y chocolate' chocolate and rue tea, as a remedy for period cramps. It's one of my favorites and it is such a nostalgic and lovely flavor for me. I love the way rue smells and I also use it to flavor tomato sauces!
I love your sense of humor. Also, I feel like everyone was working on their home gardens at the beginning of 2020 so it's encouraging to know someone else is building up an herb garden right now. I suppose mine will also be Roman since most of our common herbs have an Italian origin.
Oh my god it's that THING!! That THING I never knew I always wanted!!
No, not Priapus. The other thing.
The Roman Garden!!
I really really really hope this becomes a series -- Roman gardening history and recipes, that is. My eyes dance with a vision of spectacularly-named herbs and trees, and some everyday history would be awesome too. Like how they would actually use their gardens. I'm in Florida and that much open sunlit tile looks like a death trap in the summer. Temps here were easily bearable in the summer in the 1960s (70-80F) so maybe that was the case for them as well?
Did they dine under the columns? Under trees? The stars? Who tended the garden? What was a viridarium, and what would one do there? Did they spend most their lives outside, in the garden? It seems more plausible than sitting in dark concrete rooms all their lives. How did the fountains work? So. Many. Questions.
Will you keep us posted with your garden? Loved this video, as always. Thanks Max & Co!
I'm in Sarasota, and have started an herb garden in my lanai. The screen seems to protect the herbs from the full heat of the sun.
@@susanmcconnell-sink5443 Mine does in winter; in the nine months of summer it gets full southern exposure sun and very few plants want to hang out there for any extended amount of time. I was thinking about replacing the regular screening with some sort of shade screen...which I never want feel like tackling in the summer. 😅 Those panels are 4x8' and the very definition of unwieldy. Still, it would be so beautiful with a lot more green. Since everything would be potted/screened perhaps Mediterranean plants would be the way to go? I wouldn't have to worry about invasives, etc. Good luck, Susan! I wish you beautiful herbs and more. Perhaps a tomato tree. I'll bet Everglades tomatoes would grow really well for you there, and if I'm not mistaken they're a bush variety.
First, I've never had any issues with artichokes dying my hands (and I love artichokes and have eaten them since I was a kid). Maybe it's one of those skin chemistry things?
Second, I love your herb garden! When I was in high school I was way into medieval herbology and somehow convinced my mom to let me plant rue and tansy and lady's mantle, after I promised not to eat them. I think rue can also give you a rash if you pick it when it's wet. Right now I've finally got some winter savory (tastes like a cross between rosemary and thyme), but my chervil died after the chives grew all over it. Oh well, there's always next year.
I have never had artichokes dye my hands, never even knew they would. Are you eating a different variety in the US?
Savory is great - traditionally used to cook beans, it's supposed to reduce flatulence.
I've been preparing and cooking California grown artichokes for well over 40 years and never had stained hands from handling them. What variety of artichoke are you using?
Love artichokes! Even though I thought this was a garden tour video, I stayed for the artichokes! 😄
My grandmother (and now mother) prepare them every Thanksgiving. She cuts the stems, tops and points off the leaves. Chops the stems up with breadcrumbs, parmesan & olive oil, and uses that on the tops of the artichokes. She steams them with water & olive oil until the bottoms caramelize. They are my favorite every year!
Best of luck on the garden!
@DDZines - Thank your Grandmother for me. This sounds amazing - I'll try it, too, but I'm not waiting for Thanksgiving. ^_^
I was looking into the history of Quiche this week for work and was surprised when I saw it has such a contended history, seems like it could be an interesting tasting history if it interests you :) I can imagine you probably have a very long list of episodes to do but I just found the conflicting stories and misconceptions of it's origin fascinating.
"Musty Funk" is the name of my ZZ Top cover band.
I had a friend who grew lovage in his back yard and it was super tasty. I did not know rue would numb your tongue, but maybe that's an indication of overdoing it! I do so love hearing about your gardening adventures, and I hope to see more! I grew up in California, and would always enjoy going to artichoke festivals with my mom and grandmother. Thanks for the amazing video, and looking forward to the next one!
I would love if you did a video on Cassina or Yaupon tea. If you've ever had Yerba Mate (you can buy it at walmart) that is made from a similar holly species. There's some pretty cool history there IMO.
Hi Max! I just found your channel a few weeks ago and I just wanted to tell you this is one of my new all time favorites. You combine two of my biggest passions (food and history) in such an amazing way! I get to learn about both big events and daily life of so many different periods of life, and have delicious food/drinks to try! I hope you keep this up for a LONG time!
In northern Italy they use borage leaves as a green vegetable similar to Greek horta, and as a filling for stuffed pasta with ricotta.
I have self-seeded borage all over my tiny garden here in UK. Bees absolutely love it.
Marshmallow is actually not that difficult to find and it has a really pretty flower and nice, soft, fuzzy leaves. I recommend that one.
Yeah, there's a historic farm thing about an hour from my house that has tons of them. I've been thinking of stealing some seeds to be honest...
Most of the seeds for those can be sourced from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds! I've successfully grown borage and angelica from seed from there. I also believe they sell sweet violet seeds, but you'll specifically want what are called Queen of Russia/Czarina sweet violets as they're the only one I found that are rated for the Southen California growing zone.
Rue is readily available fresh in some of the ethnic grocery stores. Northgate Market has it in their produce section. Its one thing in my garden the gopher hasn't decided to eat yet. Artichokes make a nice perennial in the garden, too.
Interesting. I’d never heard of Rue. I’ve grown artichokes in my garden, though, and they were quite good!
Durable chaparral plant. Grows excellently in SoCal, actually.
I consider it too dangerous due to furanocoumarins (phototoxicity, i.e. nasty blisters from exposure to UV light) (admittedly I am of largely Celto-Nordic descent, very pale, and readily sunburn as it is), but it is ornamental and great caterpillar food for certain swallowtails (in the eastern half of the USA, giant swallowtails [which normally eat Zanthoxylem and Citrus, which are distant relatives of rue] and black swallowtails [which normally eat the parsley family, which have similar toxins--which is why weedwhacking wild parsnip is dangerous]. So if you are into butterfly gardening, and don't have children too young to know how to be careful around it (specifically, its sap), it is a worthwhile plant. Citrus eating swallowtails from other parts of the world will also tend to oviposit on rue.
Ophelia mentions rue in her speech to Hamlet: “You must wear your rue with a difference.” All the herbs she lists have a symbolic meaning.
Just a reminder of how grateful we are you chose your passion over your last career. We love you dearly, Max!
I'm new to the channel and this is the second time I saw reference to his past career. What did he do before this? I work at a job that's caused a lot of burn out for me, so I'm intrigued by stories of people who choose to follow their passion.
@@thenovicenovelisthe worked at Disney, not sure in what exact capacity though.
I love rue, and thankfully it’s really easy to grow from seed. The seeds are pretty easy to find online (and a lot cheaper & easier than buying a plant).
They are also a wonderful host plant for swallowtail butterflies, so plant a few extra for them. It’s breathtaking in a garden, so be sure to make room for it.
If you have problems with stray cats, plant this (and mint) in the problem areas. They hate it!
After running into multiple articles about the healthy virtues of the Artichoke Flower, I decided to check and see if there were ways of cooking one that would not overtax my kitchen skills. I Love your show for the history you provide and your sparkling banter
My borage got moved into the garden and I thought it had bit it at the beginning of summer. Wandering last weekend I found it was THRIVING! Borage wine please!! I love this idea and the kitchen garden really helps with keeping costs down! Slainte!
Got some black pepper, asafoetida, bay leaves too, but it's going to need time to get settled in :x
Once you plant borage, you've got it forever, lol. Pretty hard to kill!
@@00muinamir I'm ok with that, that plant is tasty and beautiful! I hope it wins the war with my creeping charlie, oxalis, and clover, but all together they do make a really tasty salad!
@@TastingHistory I'm sure it'll do great! You have a much longer growing season there than we do in Michigan, so I'm a little bit jealous! I really need to work on my herbs, but right now I'm just glad I have a garden that is producing and I didn't kill everything off :D
I would suggest checking out Pinetree seeds for your garden. They have a good collection of seeds including the marshmallow plant.
Just don't try to grow pine nuts from pine tree seeds (the tree, not the company (-: ). Takes too many decades.
Anyone visiting London should look for the Physic Garden in Chelsea. It was originally a garden where herbs were grown to be made into various balms and medicines to be used in the hospital there. It has an enormous amount of herbs there and is well worth a visit, which luckily anyone can now do for a small fee. Also the Eden Project in Cornwall grows interesting herbs and plants used in days gone by for the same purpose by monks and cottagers.
Thank you so much for actually eating the bits of meat off the leaves of the artichoke. That's the most fun part, in my opinion. It absolutely drives me bonkers when recipes advise you to discard those good leaves and just use the heart, because it's such a waste, and it costs you a little dinner time fun. Considering what artichokes cost, I want to get every scrap of good I can out of them.
Mmmm I love artichoke, especially when you can dip the heart into melted butter😋 Best wishes to your new garden!
The best!
We planted cardoons this year, a wonderful, beautiful and edible artichoke relative! It can be used just as artichokes. We’ll have to try this recipe!
Yes, I love the cardoons, they are such an architectural element in the garden! The young leaves can be wrapped to blanch them, then trim away the leaves/spines from the ribs and cook them up in a gratin. Lovely.
You can also use juice from cardoons as a type of vegetarian rennet for setting cheese.
@@newcamomile Ooh I didn't know that. Thank you. I've tried nettle juice and it works too but nettles are seasonal and cardoons could be a good sub to try when I don't have the nettles. Thank you:)
@@newcamomile Great to know!
Thank you so much this is really something new information for me
Does it produce seeds?
Haha I just planted a whole bunch, like 30 plants, in my permc. garden :)
Also, the dormice are called giro (plural giri) here in Italy and are still eaten by those who catch them. The meat is fresh and sweet.
I love that the recipe is just called "Another Artichoke". Way to make sound special!
Amazing work, as always! Your videos always amaze me. Admire your hard (peasant like) work and research, love your majestic (regal really..) personality! ☺
Just saw only the first minutes of this video and am already ENCHANTED!
Yay!
I'm saving this video, really cool ideas in the video, and the comment section looks like a gold mine of garden ideas for those of us interested in a broader horizon of culinary experiences
"I need to do some research into the gardens of ancient Rome" had me in stitches, well placed ad for once.
Little warning from Europe: wear gloves when you harvest rue (ruta graveolis), because it is phototoxic (meaning you will get rush and burns on your skin when touching it while exposed to the sun! Just like giant hogweed, which is used in Persian cuisine, while people here try to eradicate it as a dangerous pest.
Wormwood can be collected at the wayside here in Germany, where it is used traditionally when cooking our equally traditional goose for X-mas - it counteracts too much fat😃
Borage can be found on farmers' markets here in the season when people start pickling their cucumber themselves - a very healthy plant.
Lovage, once you have it planted, is perennial for ages and may take over a lot of space. It is an essential ingredient in the original Maggi sauce, and usually used for all kinds of soups as a basic spice.
Dani an excellent warning. I'll be sharing my tale of woe too. Hopefully Max reads one of our posts.
@@brandyjean7015 How do I find your "tale of woe?"😃
@@danihesslinger7968 it's in the comments...
A word of warning about mints: keep them contained! They can easily overtake everything. Esp pennyroyal. I made the mistake of growing it in a small strip of garden up against my house, and it went everywhere. We even had to rip the siding off b/c it had grown up under and established there!
I have lovage in my garden and i love to use it to make stock, soups etc. 😊
In Germany it's called maggikraut and in France livèche
Two things: If you find Elecampane (mentioned in the garden segment) don't hesitate to pick it up. It's a self seeding perennial in the daisy family. It's flowers are yellow and look a bit like smaller sunflowers. The roots are often added to a jar of honey to use when ill with lung based illness and coughs. It grows tall. It would be a beautiful look to have fennel and elecampane flanking an artichoke plant.Those plants you mentioned would all look great together.
PS once you have borage in it will spread so keep an eye on it. Flowers taste like cucumber.
Loved that one and the dive into the Roman herb garden a lot.
Also, greatly digging the comments here, really showcasing your incredibly international and knowledgeable following. And your comment section is so nice and civilized. Or at least well kept.
And, oh well, concerning Priapus: Even though being that Rome-crazed kid, that ate up nearly anything related to the ancient Romans in our local library, I didn't encounter him till my early twenties in a lecture on urology, where the instructor included a depiction of him when talking about that peculiar condition named after him.
My mom, and myself have been cooking artichokes for at least my 51 years, and never had my hands turn black, or discolor. Just be careful around the leaves on some of the artichokes you find as they can be spikey.