Jerusalem Artichoke: The Ingredient Edit
Hiding in the frosty soils of our winter kitchen garden are the knobbly brown tubers of the Jerusalem artichoke.
Sometimes called the earth apple or wild sunflower, it originated from the Americas and is a member of the daisy family. Delicious raw, pickled or cooked it contains inulin, an indigestible polysaccharide giving them an earthy sweetness. A fabulous prebiotic it is healthy and delicious earning it the nick name of the ‘Queen’s dainty’ when it first arrived in England in the early 17th century.
There is controversy over the origin of its name; certainly it is not peculiar to Jerusalem, but native to South America. One theory; it is a corrupted version of the Italian ‘Girasole’ as they do look very like the sunflower, and are known in parts of America as ‘The Sunchoke’. Another that the Puritan settlers in the New World referred to them as ‘The New Jerusalem’ they were planting in the wilderness. Their taste has been likened to that of the globe artichoke and they are both from the daisy family of Asteraceae.
Anyway, digging them up is great fun; you feel the exhilaration of a truffle pig when your fork unearths these nobbly prizes from the heavy winter mud. Its worth digging over the ground twice as they have a knack of hiding from you.
The tubers are ready from late autumn and through the winter months and can tolerate most soils unless waterlogged or very acidic. When the leaves fade at the end of summer, cut down the flowering stem, leaving about 10cm of stalk, so you know where to find them. It is wise to lift the last of the chokes and replant in new fertile ground as winter turns to spring, for next year’s crop. Be careful what you wish for - dig up every last scrap of tuber; any left behind can cause havoc as the sunchoke is a ruthless garden space invader.
These are a firm favourite on the Ox Barn menus this January.
They have the snap somewhere between that of a carrot and a water chestnut, and you can do almost anything with them; roast, puree or grated raw.