If you’ve ever visited Rome around this time of the year, I surely hope that you’ve tasted the artichokes. Whether it’s carciofi alla romana or carciofi alla giudea, they are super tasty as a starter course if they happen to be in season. 

My introduction to artichokes came as 16-year-old exchange student in France. One of my host families were caterers, and for Sunday lunches in the spring our starter would be raw artichokes. I remember being showed how to place my dessert spoon face down and under the upper lip of my plate. From there we’d pour a bit of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt on top before taking the artichoke on hand. From there it was tearing off each leaf (does anyone really call them bracts?!) and dip the meaty base into some oil before gnashing into the leaf. Piece after piece until there’s was nothing but a pile of scraped petals and then the choke to contend with. 

In all honesty, now that I’ve been exposed to multiple ways of preparing artichokes (all cooked, by the way), I feel like that was a pretty hard-core way to consume these spiny guys. Also now having bought my share if artichokes, I know that they’re a lot of work to prepare. So I will gladly head down to Portico di Ottavia—also the location of The Jewish Quarter— if I want to have it prepared and prepared exactly right. 

The word “sagra” in Italian means festival. In pre-COVID days there were many of them. For example, in Sicily they have a pistachio festival, where you can experience the mountain of ways that they prepare foods both savory and sweet with pistachios growing around the volcano Etna. Closer to Rome, this month they have been rightly holding a festival on honor of the emblematic carciofo (Italian for artichoke). Eager to eat as well as experience a sagra, the weather was nice enough to stop raining and allow for a visit. 

Today is Palm Sunday and so there were many folks shuffling with palms in hand following Mass. This weekend held its biggest audience draw as there would be a number of artichoke sculptures on display. 

In general I don’t enjoy fried foods, but since moving to Rome, for sure I have made on singular exception. Fried artichokes, or in the restaurant, carciofi alla giudea. They’re not too oily and must be eaten straight away. Like a good, hot pizza you delight in diving in. 

As with all the places I have visited in the past month or so, the festival was sure to include the tone of the moment (for lack of a better word). The windmill was also a gristmill that truly moved water, and had a rainbow peace (pace) flag placed on the back. By the way, as the sign here notes, the town’s Facebook page had a vote going on for best sculpture. I won’t ruin the surprise and tell you who won (the winner was great but it wouldn’t have gotten my top vote).

Further inside was a more obvious declaration of solidarity as artichokes were fashioned into a peace sign— placed against a yellow and blue background. 

The beehive with Blind Melonesque bee girl was clever, as was the Shetland pony located at the entrance. I have no idea how long it took to build these ephemeral creations, but judging by how long it takes for a person to trim and clean a single artichoke, it was a good amount of time. 

And right to the point, a stand selling little tubs of chopped up and fried artichokes made quick business. Just away from the table was a disassembly team of people circled around a huge drum of water. They were furiously preparing artichokes to be fried on the spot. And of course I was more than happy to pay €5 for an order that came accompanied by a bicchierino of either water or wine. 

While the sagra had a small band walking around and playing music, the real sight of the place seemed to be located at the bag. There, you had a sort of Naval Aviator with the “Italia” military flag patch on the shoulder. This guy was paid to stand alongside a what was undoubtedly a US Navy F-14 TOMCAT, while the soundtrack and also Italian (dubbed version) of the movie played over the loudspeakers. The base of the fighter aircraft had “Lanciate carciofi, non buttate le bombe” written below it (launch artichokes, not bombs). The photo is nice, but I highly recommend you click here to waste 7 seconds of your life to watch this piece of military artwork doing its version of compostable afterburner. You can also hear a bit of the Italian version of Top Gun.

So there you have it. My first sagra in Italy and it did not disappoint (right down to the head-scratching Buick that had artichoke hood ornaments). I’m keen to attend some more of these— and am keenly awaiting the publication of the dates for the Bronte pistachio festival in the fall. Getting outside into the sunshine while taking in some local eats is exactly what one needs to kick off the spring…and while I don’t want to think about it right now, it would be a great way to kick off the autumn.