DISPATCHES FROM THE FARM

We also grow Jerusalem artichokes (Helianthus tuberosus), a tasty relation to the sunflower. Although delicious and nutritious, they aren't extremely well known vegetables, so I decided to explain a little about these knobbly little gems below...

  

You can actually see a resemblance to the sunflower plants from the foliage of our Jerusalem artichokes above,

however, the actual artichoke is a tuber growing under the soil. When they flower, the flowers look like miniature sunflowers and like the sunflower, it is a member of the daisy family - a lovely way to end summer/start autumn before their eventual harvest. They are a root vegetable which grow similarly to potatoes and look a bit like a knobbly, pink-skinned ginger (I'll post pics. of the flowers and tubers as this current crop progresses ). They have a sweet, nutty flavour reminiscent of a cross between potatoes and water chestnuts.

Jerusalem artichokes are also called the 'sunroot' or 'sunchoke' and originate in the U.S.A.. They were first cultivated by the Native Americans long before the arrival of the Europeans.

Despite its name, the Jerusalem artichoke has no relation to Jerusalem, and it is not a type of artichoke either. The origin of the name is uncertain.   I've read that Italian settlers in the U.S.A. called the plant 'girasole', the Italian word for sunflower because of their resemblance and it is speculated that over time the name 'girasole' may have been corrupted to Jerusalem.