An Ancient Mediterranean Meal: Foods from the First Century A.D.

An Ancient Mediterranean Meal:
Foods from the First Century A.D.

Thursday, July 7, 2016

Investigating the Jerusalem Artichoke

First Impressions

A steak sandwich. This would be amazing on a steak sandwich.

This thought ran through my head as I tasted my first bite of Ms. Zacki’s Jerusalem artichoke relish. The relish was crunchy, sweet, and unlike anything else I had ever eaten. My previous idea of relish was the soggy green topping on a hot dog at an Orioles’ game; this Jerusalem artichoke relish bore no resemblance to its pickle-based cousin. I could have eaten Ms. Zacki’s relish with a spoon for lunch, it was that good. I could imagine it slathered on top of thinly-sliced, peppered steak, jammed between two slices of toasted whole wheat bread.

But perhaps it tasted so delicious because I had been waiting so long for a Jerusalem artichoke. When I was first assigned to write this blog article, I bounced between grocery stores, searching for the tuber. Trips to Whole Foods, Harris Teeter, Trader Joe’s, and a farmer’s market proved fruitless. These frustrated ventures led me to Google: Was the Jerusalem artichoke even in season? And from there I discovered the fascinating history of the tuber.


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What’s in a Name?

Have you ever played the game Telephone? Perhaps when you were younger -- at a birthday party, maybe – a friend would whisper a phrase into the ear of the person to her left, who would then whisper it to the next person, and the cycle would repeat until the phrase reached the last person. At this point the phrase would be contorted as each person misheard the phrase; by the end of the game it was nothing like the original sentence. This is similar to how the Jerusalem artichoke earned its name. The tuber is neither an artichoke nor from Jerusalem – so how did it acquire such a misleading moniker?

Samuel de Champlain, an explorer in the Americas, began the game of Telephone. He first tasted the Jerusalem artichoke (also known as the sunchoke) in Massachusetts and compared the taste to artichokes he ate in his native France. When the French began growing the tubers themselves, they agreed with de Champlain that the tubers resembled artichokes. They continued to call them artichokes, even though they are actually a member of the sunflower family.
Furthermore, the sunchokes do not originate from Jerusalem. The tubers were first cultivated in eastern North America and traded between tribes. European exploration in the New World brought the tubers over to Europe in the 1600s. Here they became a popular crop because they are inexpensive, easy to grow, and nutritious.

The Italian settlers in North America helped bring the sunchoke to Europe, but also helped it earn the “Jerusalem” part of its name. The Italians called the tuber girasole, the Italian word for sunflower, because the top of the plant resembled a sunflower. In another game of Telephone, girasole was corrupted into Jerusalem. Henceforth, the tuber became known as the Jerusalem artichoke.

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Delicious and Nutritious

The Jerusalem artichoke is highly nutritious. Despite frequent comparisons to potatoes, the sunchoke contains little starch. The carbohydrates it does contain come in the form of inulin. Inulin is a polymer that can be converted into fructose, giving the sunchoke a sweeter taste than the potato and making it a great choice for diabetics. (People suffering from type 2 diabetes tolerate fructose better than sucrose or other forms of sugar.) The sunchoke is as versatile as it is nutritious. A quick scour of the Internet revealed numerous recipes for preparing the tuber.

I wish the grocery stores around me currently carried Jerusalem artichokes so I could try roasting, stir-frying, blending, and making Paleo “fries” out of them. Many recipes simply involve dicing the tuber, tossing it with olive oil, shaking with a series of spices, and roasting for about half an hour. This method is a classic for all manners of vegetables; the Jerusalem artichoke is no exception.



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Sowing the Seeds of Your Sunchokes

For a rewarding experience, grow your own Jerusalem artichokes! Grab your trellis and sunhat and make your way to the garden. Dig small holes about three or four inches deep. Drop small tubers into the holes and bury them; keep them watered and prepare to reap the rewards. Plant them in the spring. According to Ms. Zacki’s gardening expertise, the tubers will sprout upwards first, toward the sun, as the Italians first noticed when they named the plant girasole. The top of the plant will bloom into a sunflower as the tubers grow sideways underground. Harvest the sprouted tubers in fall and early winter. I helped Ms. Zacki plant some Jerusalem artichokes in Ms. Zacki’s garden; I can’t wait to reap the rewards this fall.


2 comments:

  1. The places I saw here are really wonderful, celebrating a special event like this with the beauty of nature is really cool. When you are in this convention center, there's nothing you can do than to be happy. I really liked it here.

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  2. e this extreme and excessive focus on Obesity and weight loss in general is whats making everyone feel like a Big Loser! talktowendys

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