The organic Jerusalem artichoke is my winter choice this week – special, tasty and comforting to the mind and body.
It's true that Purim is still far away, but at this time I want to tell you about this special vegetable whose name is a disguise. The organic Jerusalem artichoke.
The truth is, it is not an artichoke at all and its connection to Jerusalem is a mistake of pronunciation. 🙂 Its Hebrew name is “sunflower bulb (actually a tuber)” and it is a sunflower species belonging to the Helianthus family, which means "sun". When you see the flower, you will understand why.
But first, a message:
Dear Friends: We are sorry for the communication problems that occurred this week. The Moatza is digging and renovating the area around the packing house and some cables were cut. In the future we will all benefit from this because there will be more parking places. However, in the meantime it's pretty annoying and this week they cut 2 cables of electricity and telephone … so you did not receive delivery slips with the final price and our communication was spotty.
In any event, the site will be updated as soon as possible and you will be charged appropriately.
Thank you for your patience 🙂
Back to our subject of the week – the Jerusalem artichoke.
Where does the popular name come from? The term "artichoke" comes from the taste that resembles that of an artichoke. The addition of "Jerusalem" is derived from the name given to the plant in Italian when it was first discovered – Girasole, which is also the name of the sunflower in this language. The name was corrupted to “Jerusalem” by the English settlers in North America, where the original Americans had already cultivated this crop.
And why do I love it so much? First of all because of its special shape: with a little imagination, each cocoon looks like a different creature. Yesterday we found a dinosaur, a chameleon, a car… It curves, full of bumps, and comes in all sorts of sizes.
It is also very healthy: In Chinese medicine, Jerusalem artichoke is considered to be a warming vegetable. It strengthens and calms the gastrointestinal tract and stimulates appetite, and is excellent for the immune system because of the vitamin C it contains in abundance. Because of the high amount of iron in it, plus the group of B vitamins, it helps prevent and treat anemia. And if that is not enough, the organic Jerusalem artichoke has properties that strengthen the liver and cleanse it of toxins, which is useful for fatty liver conditions, feelings of lightness and weight loss.
As for growing it, the Jerusalem artichoke is a farmer friendly crop because it is fast growing and easily reaches a height of about 2 meters. But sometimes the problem is not how to grow it, but how to stop its growth once it has taken root because it likes to spread over large areas. It spreads underground, which can come at the expense of other crops. In addition, when we take it out of the ground, it always makes sure to leave some of itself in the ground and so it never disappears … and grows again next year.
And its bloom? Beautiful… like the sun, with big flowers, round and yellow. See for yourself 🙂
And what about cooking? And the taste?
Jerusalem artichoke teaches us an important lesson: where there is difficulty, it can sometimes be overcome J. It is hard to peel and therefore you do not need to peel it at all. You can just wash it well and if some earth is hidden between its folds, it only adds to its special aroma. Don’t be alarmed. In general, most bowel diseases are caused due to lack of intestinal bacteria. So the organisms that exist in the remains of the good earth are beneficial to us 🙂
Prepare it baked, roasted or steamed, preferably long cooking that softens it and enhances its sweetish taste. It likes to absorb the flavors around it and it loves lemon.
And its taste? Delicate, nutty, wintery and pleasant in the stomach and the heart.
And as always, here are some Recipes of organic Jerusalem artichoke
As I said earlier, the organic Jerusalem artichoke is my winter choice this week – special, tasty and comforting the mind and body.
To health!
May it be a round and interesting week 🙂
Maggie and the garden team
We can expect in our organic vegetable basket (Draft only):
Jerusalem artichoke
Kohlraby
lettuce
pumpkin
Spinach
Rocket
Radishes
Cucumbers
Tomatoes
Potatoes
lettuce
Sprouts
In the large organic vegetable also:
Swiss chard
Sweet potatoes
Peppers
In our organic fruit baskets:
Oranges
Sweeties
Pears
Annona
In the large organic fruits baskets also:
Kiwi
Granny Smith apples in the conversion
