It is artichoke season and they have the most amazing unique taste. The taste is like a smokey spud crossed with a parsnip. In fact it is hard to describe because of it's uniqueness. You just have to try them!
I bought my chokes from Oratia market this morning and made this beautiful soup!
Sweat an onion in butter. Add 500gm of artichokes and 250gm of potato (peeled and diced). Add 300 ml of chicken stock and 300ml of milk. 1 garlic clove. 1 tablespoon of thyme leaves. Simmer for 30 mins then whizz. Add 2 tablespoons of fresh parmesan. Pour into bowls. Sprinkle with parsley and serve with warm turkish bread!
Despite its name, the Jerusalem artichoke has no relation to
Jerusalem, and it is not a type of
artichoke, even though both are members of the
daisy family. The origin of the name is uncertain. Italian settlers in the
USA called the plant
girasole, the Italian word for
sunflower because of its resemblence to the garden sunflower. Over time the name girasole may have been changed to Jerusalem.
To avoid confusion, some people have recently started to refer to it as
sunchoke.
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