Last night we were out with a dear friend, and we ordered a favorite dish for both of us: grilled artichokes with remoulade. It was smoky, crispy around the edges, and tender in the leaves. We stripped the delicious flesh off each artichoke leaf with our teeth, slowly taking the time to work through each one. It occurred to us that this may be the perfect food to eat during conversation with a good friend...

Artichokes force you to eat slowly and deliberately. They force you to look at your food and interact with your dining partner as you carefully take apart that spiky yet rewarding vegetable. And eating an artichoke ensures that your dinner will be a little longer, and a little fuller.

We ate that artichoke down to the core until there was just a pile of leaves and stems, raked by toothmarks, piled all over the plate and table. And we were full - not just with dinner, but with good conversation and friendship too.

It made us wonder - what are other foods like this that are best eaten over conversation with a good friend or two, making both the conversation richer by the food, and the food richer by the time together?

Related: The Best (and Worst) Foods to Eat While Reading

(Image: Flickr member Jeroen020, licensed for use under Creative Commons)