The artichoke is a delightful edible thorn. The uninitiated tend to be rather scared of this assault vegetable. But there is no cause for alarm; artichokes (where grown...) are cheap, easy to make and tasty. For eating them, see how to eat an artichoke, complete with diagrams. In the mediterannean region, it gets eaten chiefly in Morocco, Algiers, Tunisia and the south of France.
Here's how to prepare an artichoke for human consumption. I'm sure sneff's writeup (to be added just down below) will contain his personal recipe, only slightly modified from the Roman recipe as presented by Rossini, for preparing artichoke with the addition only of truffles, smoked mole paté, and nectarines. By all means feel free to make his version. Except that mine takes only 41 minutes, 40 of which are for boiling it.
Examine the fresh artichoke. It should be a nice green colour (for one variety) or a more purplish green. Please note: this colour is not the result of prolonged exposure to deadly mutating radiation in Outer Space; artichokes come from Planet Earth. Artichokes are perfectly safe. The artichoke should be on a short stem.
Thoroughly wash the artichoke. It helps to separate the leaves a bit to let clean water in between the leaves. You might want to remove a few outer leaves if they aren't nice. Some people also trim the tips of the leaves, but we're in a hurry, so we'll skip that.
Trim the stems off, and put artichokes and stems in a pot and cover with water. Bring the water to a boil. As you're doing so, add some vinegar, black pepper, and a bay leaf or two. If you don't have some of these, don't add the ones you don't have!
Boil, then simmer for 40-45 minutes. If your pot isn't large enough for the artichokes to float freely, you may need to turn them over yourself, and add another 10 minutes' time. The artichokes will quickly gain a deeper green colour (although if they have the purple tinge from outer space, it will remain). To check if they're ready, tear a leaf off and taste it. It should be quite soft.
Serve (as detailed in how to eat an artichoke). Some North Africans squeeze lemon on top; I prefer to dip them in mayonnaise. Or use the naked sneff's whipped mint pesto and pine-nut coriander-shiitake artichoke dip, below.