Produced from the plains of the region of Alexandria, these artichoke bottoms are produced from vegetables trimmed and sorted before being washed and then frozen. Thus, you have a vegetable ready to cook, perfect for your prepared dishes or your salads. "I was dismayed when these disappeared from Ocado, but after some undignified begging and pleading on my part, they’re back and I couldn’t be happier. I adore artichokes, but preparing them to get the cupped discs of velvety flesh at the bottom of these edible thistles is time-consuming and labour-intensive and, frankly, starting off with fresh would be a much costlier exercise. They have a particular taste that’s hard to describe, but to me they smokily evoke asparagus, butter and mushroom. There are many ways to cook them, but my favourite (at least currently) is to slice and roast them, so that they’re creamy on the inside, crisp on the outside. I make them a lot for friends who are dismally low-carb as a sort of fried potato/chip substitute, but, a happy carb-loader myself, I also offer them as a pickable drink-side snack. Cut as many (thawed) artichoke bottoms as you need into three or four slices, depending on its size. Toss them on a roasting sheet with some regular oil, finely grate over lemon zest, toss again, and then roast in a very hot oven for 30 minutes. Take them out of the oven, mince or crush some garlic over them (adding a drop more of olive oil if needed) then put them back in the oven for another 15 minutes. Once they’re out, scatter with Maldon salt and eat them either with a spritz of lemon juice, or provide some mayo as a dip. Heaven!" Nigella Lawson