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Showing posts from February, 2019

SIMPLE, KNOBBLY PLEASURES

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Jerusalem Artichokes I've always loved Jerusalem Artichokes, those bulbous brown knobbly tubers with an unusual earthy, nutty flavour. My father used to grow them and we ate them freshly-dug from the garden. Because of their rather unsociable side-effects they were of course called 'Fartichokes' at home and that name has stuck.... They are no relation to the globe artichoke, nor do they hail from Jerusalem, but they taste delicious and make a wonderful silky, comforting autumnal soup. (I usually combine 50/50 artichokes and parsnips.) They are very versatile: use them like new potatoes or as part of a tray of roasted root veg, or in a gratin. For a more sophisticated treatment, they can be served as a carpaccio - raw and thinly sliced - or deep-fried as crisps. Peel them and place in aciduated water to prevent disolouring if you're not using them immediately. This from Ottolenghi is one of my favourite recipes using Jerusalem Artichokes (it's from his b