e mysterious veggie with plenty of bite

Food

The mysterious veggie with plenty of bite!

Grown in the herb and vegetable garden here at Jimmy’s Farm & Wildlife Park, the Jerusalem artichoke provides myriad health benefi ts and a tasty, crunchy treat.

The Jerusalem artichoke is a veggie with a bit of a misnomer. Despite its name, it has no relation to one of the holiest cities in the world – one theory is that it is a corruption over the years of the Italian word for sunfl ower, ‘girasole’.

That’s because it’s not really an artichoke either, but a variety of sunfl ower with an edible tuber, similar to a potato.

Originally from North America, where it is usually called a sunchoke, it resembles a ginger root with a nutty, sweet and crunchy taste.

Rich in nutrients

The Jerusalem artichoke provides an array of vitamins and minerals as well as fi bre and protein. If you add it to your diet, you’ll get a decent hit of vitamin C, a variety of B vitamins and calcium, along with iron, copper, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium.

Sweet health boost

It also boasts an abundance of fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS), the prebiotic plant sugars occurring in many fruits and vegetables that give them a natural sweetness.

“FOS is particularly helpful for improving immunity, absorption of calcium and improving blood sugar balance,” explains registered nutritionist Samantha Bloom (bloom-nutrition.co.uk).

“The active ingredients, cynaropicrin and cynarin, have been proven to help reduce cholesterol. They are also stabilising for the metabolism due to valuable oils and are good for the liver.” The Jerusalem artichoke provides a much-needed boost at a time of year when immunity tends to take a dip, observes registered nutritional therapist Vicky Godfrey, co-founder of DNApal (dnapal.me)

“It can stimulate growth of bifi dobacteria – this is one of the ‘good guys’ that fi ghts harmful bacteria, and is a bacteria in the gut you really want to nurture in order to support immune health...especially important in the winter months.”

Food

Potassium powerhouse

The Jerusalem artichoke is a great source of dietary fi bre and potassium, with the latter vital for the circulatory system to keep heart muscles healthy and for the alkaline balance in blood.

“It works as a natural healing mineral especially for heart muscles and regulates water balance in the body, assisting with the elimination of blood impurities via the kidneys,” says Samantha.

Tasty and versatile

Aside from its many health benefi ts, the Jerusalem artichoke is full of fl avour and can be cooked in a variety of ways – or even eaten raw!

“They are delicious simply roasted in olive oil with salt,” says Samantha. “Or creamed as a soup with fennel and topped with oven-baked root chips. Or simply tray-baked with other root veggies such as sweet potato and beets, and then sprinkled with sesame seeds or a similar source of good fat to help digest.”

www.jimmysfarm.com While Jerusalem artichokes need to be washed carefully or peeled, it’s well worth the effort as they are cheap and offer something a bit different. “They are more complex than the simple sugariness of carrots, and more elegant than celeriac or parsnip – you really should try them!” extols Vicky, who recommends steaming over boiling to avoid water-logging.

“One of my favourite ways to prepare them is by adding a bay leaf, some crushed garlic, and a slice of lemon to the steaming water to infuse this already tasty root vegetable with even more fl avour.”

Or if you’re a fan of fi sh, try haddock pie with Jerusalem gratin (swapping out the potato topping) – it’s yummy!