jerusalem artichoke

also called sunchoke and sundry other things. apparently they're the root of a type of sunflower. they're sort of fractal looking. and also kind of like an organic game of jacks.

when eaten raw, they were sweet and crunchy with an unexpected hint of spice, sort of like jicama with a tiny bit of radish. they smelled part like the fridge (naturally, not from long storage) and part like artichoke. rather hard to cut. also, scrub well, because grit hides out in those nooks and crannies.

raw sunchokes:

fried plain, they were sweeter and slightly tender, but definitely al dente. my notes say the flavor was half artichoke, half cooked [something that got erased. sadness].

with tarragon and lemon, they tasted more like artichoke. http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/pan-roasted-sunchokes-artichoke-hearts-lemon-herb-butter.aspx i didn't pan roast because my oven's broken (still), and i just used sunchokes, but the sauce was fantastic anyway. i want to try it on pasta salad. i have exhaustive notes on the cooking process and recipe substitutions, but that feels like tmi.

this did not reheat well. yucky. texture was weird and the lemon flavor disappeared.

sunchokes cooked in a delicious sauce: