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Jerusalem artichoke is a type of sunflower that is grown for its edible tuberous roots as well as its pretty yellow flowers. This is a large, gangly, multibranched perennial with rough, sandpapery leaves and stems, and numerous yellow flowerheads. It can get 10 ft (3 m) tall and its branches can spread to nearly as much. They sometimes break under their own weight, and often fall over. The leaves are ovate (broadest below the middle) and 5-10 in (12.7-25.4 cm) long. The flowerheads are 3-4 (7.6-10 cm) across and have 10-20 bright yellow rays. Jerusalem artichoke is quite showy in bloom during late summer and early fall. The edible tubers are produced just below the ground on thin white rhizomes. They are segmented and knobby, 1-4 in (2.5-10 cm) long, and have crisp, white flesh. More than a dozen cultivars have been selected and named. 'Fusau', a French cultivar, has fewer knobs and is thus easy to clean, but some say it isn't as flavorful as knobbier types. 'Maine Giant' produces dense creamy white tubers. 'Golden Nugget' has elongated, carrotlike tubers.
Jerusalem artichoke grows wild in North America from Saskatchewan, east to Ontario and south to Arkansas, Georgia and Tennessee. Its original distribution is not clear because it was widely spread by Native Americans who cultivated it for the edible tubers. The original range probably was the northern Great Plains of Canada and the U.S. Jerusalem artichoke grows in moist soils in old fields, along roads and the edges of forests.
Culture
Usage
Unlike potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes do not contain starch, but instead inulin, which is a type of fructose, a natural sugar. Inulin tastes sweet and satisfies like starch, but is not digested and can be tolerated by diabetics. Jerusalem artichokes average less than 120 calories per cup. Although some people are uneffected, Jerusalem artichokes can cause extreme flatulence in others. (Perhaps this statement should be under "Warning", below?)
Jerusalem artichokes were cultivated by Native Americans who introduced them to the first white settlers in the early 1600s. The French explorer Samuel de Champlain, reported that they tasted like artichokes. They were quickly accepted back in Europe and the Italians called them girasole articiocco, meaning "sunflower artichoke." Apparently "Jerusalem" is a corruption of the Italian name, and has nothing whatever to do with a city in the Middle East. The French name, topinambour derives from a tribe of Brazilian Indians who were taken to France about the same time as the vegetable. Nowadays the tubers are sold in produce markets and healthfood stores under the names, "sunchoke" or "Sun Root." Jerusalem artichoke is the only vegetable of any consequence to come from North America. (Potatoes, tomatoes, corn and peppers all originated in Central or South America.) When potatoes were finally accepted by the Europeans in the 18th century, Jerusalem artichokes went out of favor, and have remained a rather minor vegetable ever since.
Steve Christman 10/10/00; updated 9/11/03, 10/13/03, 1/12/06
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