In January I signed up for an organic delivery service. Every two weeks we get a big box of fresh, local if possible organic produce, a dozen eggs from happy chickens and a loaf of fabulous bread. We wanted to support local small growers and food producers, we wanted to eat more veggies and we wanted to try new things. This week in the box came these...
Purple. Hairy. Gnarled. My first thought was "Why have they sent me a brown paper sack of alien hemorrhoids?", but when I read the packing list I figured out that they were Jerusalem artichokes, AKA sunchokes. I had no idea what to do with them, so off I went to consult Google and found out that they aren't an artichoke and they don't come from Jerusalem and that you use them like a potato. I decided on a straightforward cream of Jerusalem artichoke soup with bacon. Can't go wrong with bacon and cream, right? Well, maybe you can. The Jerusalem artichokes had the texture of a water chestnut when I was peeling them and didn't smell at all, but as they started to cook in the stock with the onion and thyme they started to REALLY smell like artichokes. REALLYREALLY. I like artichokes, but maybe this was too much? The soup is done now and the cream mellowed out the very assertive artichoke flavour some, but I don't even know if adding the bacon garnish will make this something I'm going to like. And Jerusalem artichokes are also known for giving the diner large amounts of sometimes painful gas. What a charming vegetable. Would reporting back after dinner be too much information?
omg I'm laughing now. Painful gas giving vegies are probably the ones to avoid. I'm thinking of signing us up to an organic food delivery because we could do with vegies and we're not going to go out to buy them. But the stuff they give you in winter can be...different. You're certainly braver than me to try them.
Posted by: Steph | February 06, 2008 at 11:33 PM
I wussed out after a few spoonfuls, but David plowed through a bowl and half, declaring it "alright", but then he's not fussy about what he eats at all. At the end of the meal he proclaimed "I ate it, but I don't ever need it again" and the next morning the only thing he could say was "Toxic. I don't want to talk about it".
Posted by: Lisa | February 07, 2008 at 08:57 AM
LOL men are pathetic. They eat anything then suffer the consequences.
Posted by: Steph | February 07, 2008 at 04:11 PM
I'll remember to avoid those! Odd how talk of vegetables always seems to spiral quickly out of control. I post about some pretty vegetables that I find, and all the comments turned into talk of various bodily functions. And most of those comments were from members of my own family. We"re a classy bunch!
Other than the Jerusalem Artichokes, have you gotten a lot of good stuff? I keep thinking I'd like to sign up at our local CSA, or at least grow a few things myself.
Posted by: marné | February 08, 2008 at 11:55 AM
We get some great stuff, even in the winter. Salad greens every week, lots of exotic and DELICIOUS potatoes and squashes and I've discovered some vegetables that I really like now, like kale and chard.
Posted by: Lisa | February 12, 2008 at 02:07 PM
I've never seen them that colour!
I like the sound of your box with eggs and bread.
We get a box each week and it has made us try things your wouldn't normally even think about buying.
I have to admit I don't like jerusalem artichokes and we can exclude stuff from our box.
Posted by: Jox | February 13, 2008 at 04:48 AM
Oh, this made me laugh so hard, thank you!
Posted by: Jessica | March 15, 2008 at 10:59 PM