Has anyone else here ever eaten a Sunchoke (aka Jerusalem Artichoke)

[Riggo-toni]

That crazy thread about bagels got me thinking...

I'd never even heard of sunchokes until a few months ago, and then it still took me a while to find a fresh foods market that carried them. I tried them because they're suppoed to be good for diabetics, but dang, I love'em. I've cooked them for my wife and some friends and everyone responds positively, and they're a whole lot healthier than potatoes. Just curious if anyone else has ever tried one. They are also known as Jerusalem Artichokes, even though they aren't artichokes and come from Texas (which is why people started calling them sunchokes instead).

[Burgold]

This reminds me of my quest for Ugli fruit. It was very odd to me that there was a fruit named "ugly" For the record, it's a citrus fruit and it's pretty good.

[Bugs']

Rigg....what do these artichokes taste like? How did you prepare them?

[Riggo-toni]

Originally posted by Bugs'

Rigg....what do these artichokes taste like? How did you prepare them?

They taste like potatoes, only a bit sweeter - maybe closer to sweet potatoes. You can prepare them anyway you would normally prepare potatoes. The easiest thing is wash one off, pop it in the microwave for 2 -3 minutes (you'll know it's done when it feels soft), then cut it open and put butter in it. Like a baked potato, only better. I actually prefer their taste and texture to potatoes.

You can also slice them up and eat them raw (not my preference, mind you), in which case they taste like water chestnuts.

They're not actually artichokes - they're the bulb root of a type of sunflower. They look more like the ginger roots you see in your local supermarket.