Product of the month (october 2023)

Jerusalem Artichoke

The Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus) is a species in the sunflower family. It is a perennial herb originating from North America. It is cultivated in temperate regions for its tubers (rhizomes), which are used as a root vegetable. The Jerusalem artichoke is a type of sunflower, belonging to the same genus as the common sunflower.

A Jerusalem artichoke plant can reach a height of approximately 1.5–3 meters. The plant's leaves have a hairy texture and can grow up to 30 cm in length. The plant's flowers are typically yellow and about 5–10 cm in diameter. The roots vary in color and can be white, red, or purple.

Jerusalem artichokes are easy to grow. In fact, for many people, the challenge is to stop cultivating them once they have been planted. For this reason, it is tempting to leave them in the ground year after year and dig up the tubers as needed. However, the quality of the tubers decreases with this treatment; it is important to keep the soil fertile. Even a small tuber left in the ground will start to grow, and they can eventually become persistent weeds. A good harvest is considered to be around 15–25 tons per hectare.

The tubers are knobby, irregular, and vaguely resemble ginger roots. When raw, they have a crisp texture. Unlike most tubers but similar to other members of the Asteraceae family (including the artichoke), they store carbohydrates as inulin (not to be confused with the hormone insulin) instead of starch. For this reason, they have a tendency to break down and dissolve when cooked.

The tubers, which are the only part used, taste like a cross between a radish and an artichoke.

Its English name, "Jerusalem artichoke," has nothing to do with Jerusalem and little to do with artichoke. The origin of the name is unclear. One common theory is that the "Jerusalem" part of the name originated from Italian immigrants who called it "girasole articiocco," meaning "sunflower artichoke," and that the "girasole" part was anglicized to "Jerusalem." The problem with this theory is that there were hardly any Italian immigrants in North America until the 1800s, Jerusalem artichokes did not reach Italy until the 1630s, and sunflowers did not reach Europe until the late 1600s.

Another theory is that the first British immigrants, the Puritans, who were introduced to the artichoke-flavored root by the Native Americans (who had been cultivating it for centuries), called it Jerusalem artichoke because they considered their colony to be the New Jerusalem. The roots arrived in Britain in 1617, and by 1633, the root was already called Jerusalem artichoke in the British plant encyclopedia "The Herball or Generall Historic of Plants."