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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Sunchokes (Jerusalem Artichokes)
  • Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2008 02:25:39 -0600

Sunchokes (Jerusalem Artichokes)

Sunchokes, of the sunflower family, are native to North America where the
natives called them "sun roots" before European settlers arrived. Samuel
Champlain, a French explorer found them in Cape Cod in 1605 and pronounced
them similar in taste to artichokes. But why "Jerusalem artichokes"? They
don't come from Jerusalem nor do they look like artichokes. There are a few
theories: when first discovered people started calling them "girasole" (or
flower that turns looking for the sun) which eventually became "Jerusalem".
Another possibility is that as sunchokes became the staple food of the first
European pilgrims in North American soil they named it as food for the "new
Jerusalem".

Around the 1960's they were renamed "sunchokes" by someone in the produce
marketing department who took the separation of church and steak too
seriously. Sunchokes can grow up to 10ft, and if left to their own devises
will live forever in the same spot, but quality of tubers will deteriorate if
not frequently divided and replanted in fertile soil. They grow best in the
sunniest spot, just like their cousins the sunflowers, with an optimum
temperature of 65-80- F and 125 frost-free days. But the tubers will be at
their prime when harvested after the first or second frost.

And speaking of the tubers, these look like small, knobbly potatoes but
crunchier, sweeter and do have a slight taste of artichoke. They practically
contain no starch, but plenty of inulin (not insulin), which becomes fructose
when spuds are stored in the ground or refrigerated. The humble sunchoke is
considered gourmet fare by many. Raw, it's an excellent substitute for water
chestnuts in hot and spicy stir fries, or cooked in cream soups, broiled with
sweet potatoes, or simply scrubbed and baked.

http://www.localharvest.org/sunchokes.jsp









  • [Livingontheland] Sunchokes (Jerusalem Artichokes), Tradingpost, 08/21/2008

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