Ragout of Artichokes with Wine and Herbs

During the 1970s, the “Queen of Artichokes” in France was a young woman chef named Dominique Versini Nahmias, known simply as Olympe. Recently, while surfing the net, I discovered that Salinas, California, celebrated its first artichoke festival in 1948. And who was the first “artichoke queen” in this country? It was Marilyn Monroe. I don't know whether MM really liked artichokes, but I think if she'd tasted this dish, she would have found it memorable and royal.

Here is Olympe's re