The artichoke is a much-loved winter vegetable throughout Italy. This lunch or dinner starter is light and best served accompanied with a variety of salads and focaccia. On our recent trip to Puglia, Vivienne and I stopped at an artichoke field, near Brindisi, which was just being harvested. Boxes were littered all around the fields and the pickers offered us raw artichokes. We tore off the outer leaves and, as we got closer to the heart, we ate the fleshy base, which was curiously bitter–sweet. The meat in this dish adds another dimension to this wonderful vegetable.