If you squeeze it and it squeaks, it’s fresh.
Apparently this is a cultivated thistle as you can see from the choke in the artichoke with pink downiness:
I’ve never bought an artichoke that wasn’t pickled. This one got steamed in a colander suspended over water for about 40 minutes until a “leaf” pulled loose. The water was with some celery, lemon and garlic.
One does need a prepped small work triangle for hollandaise sauce. Everything happens so quickly!
double boiler for the 3 egg yolks, whisked constantly
1 small pot of boiling water, slowly adding 3 tablespoons of water to yolks
1/2 cup of butter melted, dribbled in slowly
1 tbs lemon juice, continuing to whisk
paprika and pinch of salt
Hopefully it all was done fast enough that it’s smooth for you. If not, whiz in the food processor and don’t mention it. 
It’s hard not to wonder just how hungry people must have been to resort to this much work for so little food in artichokes. It’s a pretty food tho.
I love the flavor of artichokes, even though they don’t offer much sustenance. I haven’t tried them with a hollandaise sauce before and will give it a shot. I enjoy your blog — you take such great pictures of the food
Thanks for submitting this recipe to the Food Fight!
This is great, I’ve never made hollandaise before, only mayonnaise, which seems easier. DOes this take practice to make perfect?
I made mayonnaise once and this sauce seemed easier to me. It still takes some arm muscles because you have to beat really fast for a lot of minutes.