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Jerusalem Artichokes
This artichoke is a species of sunflower, being a tuber, like a potato. Wash well in cold water, throw them into clean (1) cold water and soak two hours. Scrape off the skin, holding the artichoke as much under water as possible to prevent it from getting dark, throwing each one as soon as finished into a bowl of clean cold water. Drain and cover with boiling water, add a teaspoonful of salt, and boil until tender, about fifteen minutes. Watch closely or they will harden again. Drain and serve with Cream Sauce.
A plain boiled vegetable with two quirks worth knowing: the tubers discolour the moment they meet air, and they turn tough rather than soft if left too long in the pot.
- What to buyThese are sunchokes (Helianthus tuberosus), sold under that name or as Jerusalem artichokes. Look for firm, knobbly tubers with no soft or shrivelled spots; about a pound and a half will serve four as a side.
- The hinge: do not overboilThe warning that they "will harden again" is real. Sunchokes pass through a brief tender stage and then, with continued cooking, go fibrous and waxy. Start testing with a knife tip at ten minutes and drain the instant they yield.
- Acidulate the waterThe under-water scraping and the bowl of clean cold water are explicitly about preventing browning; the two-hour soak follows the washing and its purpose is not stated. A tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar in the holding bowl does more than plain cold water, and the long soak can be shortened or skipped if you work quickly.
- Peeling is optionalThe skins are thin and edible. Scrubbing well and leaving them on saves a great deal of fussing over irregular knobs, and the cooked skin is not noticeable under a cream sauce.
- Cut for even cookingSunchokes come in wildly uneven sizes. Halve or quarter the large ones so everything finishes together, or the small tubers will be past their best before the big ones are done.
- Cream SauceThe book means a basic white sauce. A workable version: two tablespoons butter, two tablespoons flour, a cup of milk, cooked out for a few minutes and seasoned with salt and pepper.
- A note on digestionSunchokes store carbohydrate as inulin rather than starch, which many people find gassy. A modest first serving is sensible; roasting or longer cooking reduces the effect somewhat.
Jerusalem artichokes have nothing to do with Jerusalem or with globe artichokes. The tuber is native to eastern North America, was cultivated by Indigenous peoples well before European contact, and reached Europe in the early seventeenth century, where its flavour reminded eaters of artichoke hearts; the "Jerusalem" is generally traced to a corruption of the Italian girasole, sunflower, though that derivation is traditional rather than firmly documented. The writer's opening sentence -- explaining that it is a species of sunflower and a tuber like a potato -- suggests that the vegetable may still have been unfamiliar enough to American households to need introducing. Its appeal is practical: fifteen minutes in a covered pot and a quick white sauce, with no oven lit.