Artichokes are delicious. Baked or boiled are good ways to start out enjoying an artichoke. You can eat them as vehicle for salt and butter just like corn on the cob or lobster. The when you really start to enjoy the artichoke these three ingredients can be combined in a superb pasta dish with olive oil and and fresh grated parmesan cheese.
The possibilities are endless.

According to one website it was first documented by Greek philosopher and naturalist, Theophrastus (371-287 B.C.)

but the legend of the Artichoke is much more interesting

--quote--
According to an Aegean legend and praised in song by the poet Quintus Horatius Flaccus, the first artichoke was a lovely youngartichoke flower girl who lived on the island of Zinari. The god, Zeus was visiting his brother Poseidon one day when, as he emerged from the sea, he spied a beautiful young mortal woman. She did not seem frightened by the presence of a god, and Zeus seized the opportunity to seduce her. He was so pleased with the girl, who's name was Cynara, that he decided to make her a goddess, so that she could be nearer to his home on Olympia. Cynara agreed to the promotion, and Zeus anticipated the trysts to come, whenever his wife Hera was away. However, Cynara soon missed her mother and grew homesick. She snuck back to the world of mortals for a brief visit. After she returned, Zeus discovered this un-goddess-like behavior. Enraged, he hurled her back to earth and transformed her into the plant we know as the artichoke.
--/quote--

Were you watching Iron Chef America?

A person, not from North America, Long, Long (but not so long) ago.