Jerusalem Artichokes . . . .

Yesterday, I harvested several dozen of Jerusalem artichoke tubers from our garden at Kashi Atlanta. 
Here is some info from Wikipedia on them:

The Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus), also called sunroot, sunchoke, earth apple or topinambour, is a species of sunflower native to eastern North America, and found from eastern Canada and Maine west to North Dakota, and south to northern Florida and Texas.^[1] It is also cultivated widely across the temperate zone for its tuber, which is used as a root vegetable.^[2]

 

It is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to 4 ft 10 in–9 ft 10 in, tall with opposite leaves on the upper part of the stem but alternate below.^[3] The leaves have a rough, hairy texture and the larger leaves on the lower stem are broad ovoid-acute and can be up to 30 centimetres (12 in) long, and the higher leaves smaller and narrower.
The flowers are yellow and produced in capitate flowerheads, which are 5–10 centimetres (2.0–3.9 in) in diameter, with 10–20 ray florets.
The tubers are elongated and uneven, typically 7.5–10 centimetres (3.0–3.9 in) long and 3–5 centimetres (1.2–2.0 in) thick, and vaguely resembling ginger root, with a crisp texture when raw. They vary in colour from pale brown to white, red, or purple.^[2][4]
The artichoke contains about 10% protein, no oil, and a surprising lack of starch. However, it is rich in the carbohydrate inulin (76%), which is a polymer of the monosaccharide fructose. Tubers that are stored for any length of time will digest their inulin into its component fructose. Jerusalem artichokes have an underlying sweet taste because of the fructose, which is about one and a half times sweeter than sucrose.^[5]
Jerusalem artichokes have also been promoted as a healthy choice for diabetics. This is because fructose is better tolerated by people that are diabetic. It has also been reported as a folk remedy for diabetes.^[5] Temperature variances have been shown to affect the amount of inulin the Jerusalem artichoke can produce. When not in tropical regions, it has been shown to make less inulin than when it is in a warmer region.^[6]

Etymology[edit]

Jerusalem artichoke flowers

Despite its name, the Jerusalem artichoke has no relation to Jerusalem, and it is not a type of artichoke, though both are members of the daisy family. The origin of the name is uncertain. Italian settlers in the USA called the plant girasole, the Italian word for sunflower, because of its resemblance to the garden sunflower (note: both the sunflower and the sunchoke are part of the same genus: Helianthus). Over time, the name girasole may have been changed to Jerusalem.^[7] The English later corrupted girasole artichoke (meaning, “sunflower artichoke”) to Jerusalem artichoke. Another explanation for the name is that the Pilgrims, when they came to the New World, named the plant with regard to the “New Jerusalem” they believed they were creating in the wilderness.^[5] There have also been various other names applied to the plant, such as the French or Canada potato, topinambour, and lambchoke. Sunchoke, a name by which it is still known today, was invented in the 1960s by Frieda Caplan, a produce wholesaler who was trying to revive the plant’s appeal.^[5]
The artichoke part of the Jerusalem artichoke's name comes from the taste of its edible tuber. Samuel de Champlain, the French explorer, sent the first samples of the plant to France, noting its taste was similar to an artichoke.^{[citation needed]}
The German version of Wikipedia attributes the name "topinambur" to a 17th-century coincidence at the Vatican (in 1615) when a sample of the tuber from Canada was on display, as having helped French Canadian settlers to survive the Winter; at the same time a member of the Brazilian coastal tribe, the Tupinambá, was also visiting. The New World connection evidently resulted in the name for Jerusalem artichoke now used in Spanish, German, Romanian, and French.

History[edit]

Jerusalem artichokes were first cultivated by the Native Americans long before the arrival of the Europeans; this extensive cultivation obscures the exact native range of the species.^[1] The French explorer Samuel de Champlain found domestically grown plants at Cape Cod in 1605. He then brought the plant back with him to France. By the mid-1600s, the Jerusalem artichoke had become a very common vegetable for human consumption in Europe and the Americas and was also used for livestock feed in Europe and colonial America.^[5]
The French in particular were especially fond of the vegetable, which reached its peak popularity at the turn of the nineteenth century.^[5] The Jerusalem artichoke was titled 'best soup vegetable' in the 2002 Nice Festival For The Heritage Of The French Cuisine.

Cultivation and uses

Young plants in a garden

Sunroot tubers

Unlike most tubers, but in common with other members of the Asteraceae (including the artichoke), the tubers store the carbohydrate inulin (not to be confused with insulin) instead of starch. For this reason, Jerusalem artichoke tubers are an important source of inulin used as a dietary fiber in food manufacturing.^[8]
Crop yields are high, typically 16–20 tonnes/ha for tubers, and 18–28 tonnes/ha green weight for foliage. Jerusalem artichoke also has potential for production of ethanol fuel, using inulin-adapted strains of yeast for fermentation.^[2]
Jerusalem artichokes are easy to cultivate, which tempts gardeners to simply leave them completely alone to grow. However, the quality of the edible tubers degrades unless the plants are dug up and replanted in fertile soil. This can be a chore, as even a small piece of tuber will grow if left in the ground, making the hardy plant a potential weed. In fact, the plant can be pernicious. It can ruin gardens by smothering or overshadowing nearby plants and can overtake huge areas if left untamed. Commercial fields growing sunchoke which then change to other vegetables or crops often must be eradicated with glyphosate (sometimes twice, with attendant side effects of these potent toxins) to stop the spread of the sunchokes. Each sunchoke root can make an additional 75 to as many as 200 tubers by fall end.

Jerusalem artichokes

The tubers are sometimes used as a substitute for potatoes:^[9] they have a similar consistency, and in their raw form have a similar texture, but a sweeter, nuttier flavor; raw and sliced thinly, they are fit for a salad. The carbohydrates give the tubers a tendency to become soft and mushy if boiled, but they retain their texture better when steamed. The inulin cannot be broken down by the human digestive system,^[10] which can cause flatulence and, in some cases, gastric pain. Gerard's Herbal, printed in 1621, quotes the English planter John Goodyer on Jerusalem artichokes:

"which way so ever they be dressed and eaten, they stir and cause a filthy loathsome stinking wind within the body, thereby causing the belly to be pained and tormented, and are a meat more fit for swine than men."^[11]

Jerusalem artichokes have 650 mg potassium per 1 cup (150g) serving. They are also high in iron, and contain 10-12% of the US RDA of fiber, niacin, thiamine, phosphorus and copper.^[12]
Jerusalem artichokes can be used as animal feed, and, while they must be washed before being fed to most animals, pigs forage and safely eat them directly from the ground. The stalks and leaves can be harvested and used for silage, though cutting the tops greatly reduces the harvest of the roots.

Jerusalem-artichokes, raw

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy	304 kJ (73 kcal)
Carbohydrates	17.44 g
- Sugars	9.6 g
- Dietary fiber	1.6 g
Fat	0.01 g
Protein	2 g
Thiamine (vit. B1)	0.2 mg (17%)
Riboflavin (vit. B2)	0.06 mg (5%)
Niacin (vit. B3)	1.3 mg (9%)
Pantothenic acid (B5)	0.397 mg (8%)
Vitamin B6	0.077 mg (6%)
Folate (vit. B9)	13 μg (3%)
Vitamin C	4 mg (5%)
Calcium	14 mg (1%)
Iron	3.4 mg (26%)
Magnesium	17 mg (5%)
Phosphorus	78 mg (11%)
Potassium	429 mg (9%)
Link to USDA Database entry Percentages are roughly approximated using US recommendations for adults. Source: USDA Nutrient Database

Rossler

Liquor[edit]

In Baden-Württemberg, Germany, over 90% of the Jerusalem artichoke crop is used to produce a spirit called "Topinambur", "Topi" or "Rossler".^[13] By the end of the 19th-century Jerusalem artichokes were being used in Baden to make a spirit called "Jerusalem artichoke brandy," "Jerusalem artichoke", "Topi", "Erdäpfler" "Rossler" or "Borbel."
Jerusalem artichoke brandy smells fruity and has a slight nutty-sweet flavour. It is characterised by an intense pleasing earthy note. The tubers are washed and dried in an oven before