THE ROOT OF THE SUN
My dad called Jerusalem artichokes farty-chokes and, if eaten in large quantities, they certainly live up to his naughty nickname. And, despite its more polite name, this knobbly veg is neither from Jerusalem nor a true artichoke.
As its scientific name indicates, it’s more closely related to the sunflower, the Italian word for sunflower. As for “artichoke”, the nutty flavour of the tuber is similar to that of globe artichoke hearts. Other names it has acquired include sunchoke, sunroot and earth apple.
