Sunflower Spotlight

by Debra Banks

Title

Sunflower Spotlight

Artist

Debra Banks

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

Jerusalem Artichoke. Jerusalem artichokes, often called “sunchokes” are native to North America and Europe and are no relation at all to artichokes. Jerusalem artichokes belong to the sunflower family. The white flesh is nutty, sweet and crunchy like chestnuts when raw. Jerusalem artichokes are the unsung heroes of the root vegetable family. These versatile veggies can be eaten in a side dish or simply roasted

"Despite one of its names, the Jerusalem artichoke has no relationship to Jerusalem, and it is not a type of artichoke, though the two are distantly related as members of the daisy family. The origin of the "Jerusalem" part of the name is uncertain. Italian settlers in the United States called the plant girasole, the Italian word for sunflower, because of its familial relationship to the garden sunflower (both plants are members of the genus Helianthus). Over time, the name girasole (pronounced closer to [dʒiraˈsuːlə] in southern Italian dialects) may have been changed to Jerusalem.[11] In other words, English speakers would have corrupted "girasole artichoke" (meaning, "sunflower artichoke") to Jerusalem artichoke.[12] Another explanation for the name is that the Puritans, when they came to the New World, named the plant with regard to the "New Jerusalem" they believed they were creating in the wilderness.[8] Also, various other names have been applied to the plant, such as the French or Canada potato, topinambour, and lambchoke. Sunchoke, a name by which it is still known today, was invented in the 1960s by Frieda Caplan, a produce wholesaler who was trying to revive the plant's appeal.[8]

The artichoke part of the Jerusalem artichoke's name comes from the taste of its edible tuber. Samuel de Champlain, the French explorer, sent the first samples of the plant to France, noting its taste was similar to that of an artichoke.[13][14]

The name topinambur, in one account, dates from 1615, when a member of the Brazilian coastal tribe called the Tupinambá visited the Vatican at the same time that a sample of the tuber from Canada was on display there, presented as a critical food source that helped French Canadian settlers survive the winter. The New World connection resulted in the name topinambur being applied to the tuber, the word now used in French, German, Italian, Romanian, Russian, and Spanish.[15][16]"

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October 17th, 2019

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