Instructions: When you have stripped the leaves back to the tender ones stop and remove the choke with a teaspoon inserting it into the centre of the flower and carefully turning it.

This will remove all the hairy spines. (Once youve done one youll know exactly how to insert the spoon in the cleanest way not breaking the sides of the choke.)

Now remove the stringy outer skin on the stalk with a peeler.

Put the artichokes into water with lemon juice squeezed into it to stop thern going brown.

I know this all sounds tike a bit of a palaver but I think its worth it and you do get quicker at it; each artichoke should only take about a minute with a bit of practice!

Its probably a good idea if you wear Marigolds for this job as the artichokes do tend to make your hands go black and they can be very prickly.

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