ItalyUpdate

The Artichoke Festival of Ladispoli, one of the oldest and most popular celebrations of Lazio region culinary products, concluded its sixty-second edition on the 16 April 2012. Ladispoli, a seaside resort on the coast north of Rome, is also famous for its vast artichoke cultivations spread along the edges of the ancient Roman consular Via Aurelia.

The artichoke, much appreciated by health food connoisseurs for its many therapeutic qualities, has been an integral part of the Roman diet for centuries. Traditionally, it is stuffed with garlic and mint and cooked in olive oil, or else deep fried till it is crunchy alla giudia (in the Jewish fashion)