Ute cooks:SOUP OF JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES

Jerusalem artichokes (or Topinambour) is an unbelievably ugly vegetable,wrinkly and dirty and reminiscent of a bad looking ginger root.  On top of this,their name is misnomer as they have no relation with the conventional,handsome globe artichoke and don’t origin in Isreal but are native to North America (more about the history,season,nutrition and preparation here).

When I saw Jerusalem artichokes at Waitrose I bravely put them into my shopping basket,immediately followed by an urgent request for help on Twitter.

I got very good suggestions on what to do with these strangers in my kitchen:

@bennglazier suggested to “just simply baking them in the oven,prepared in the same way you might do wedges of sweet potato. Olive oil,s&p.”

@DiBadGuy likes them the following way “Cook them with some very zesty lemony chicken thighs in a little oil,saffron,garlic and broth. Simmer and serve over rice…”

@VintageMacaroon tweeted “I love them as a soup,so creamy and rich. I’ve done them sauted too which as good.”

I followed the suggestion by @GingerGourmand who has a beautiful recipe for Jerusalem Artichoke Soup with Roasted Hazelnuts posted on his/her blog.

I was missing some of the ingredients so needed to adapt the recipe a bit,but it nonetheless turned out absolutely delicious.  Before you rush off to buy the ingredients,do make sure you read the last paragraph though.

Soup of Jerusalem Artichoke with Lemon Thyme

Cooking Time: 30 min

Serves: 4 as a starter portion

Ingredients:

• about 50og of Jerusalem artichokes
• 1 large onion
• 1 garlic clove
• juice of half a lemon
• 500 ml of vegetable stock (I am lazy and take a stock cube)
• 300 ml of semi-skimmed milk
• oilve oil
• a dash of butter
• salt and pepper
• a splash of Noilly Prat
• fresh lemon thyme

1. Finely chop the onions and the garlic.  Heat some butter and olive oil in a large enough pan with lid and sautee the onions and the garlic for about 5-7 minutes on low heat with the lid on until softened but not browned.

2. In the meantime wash and peel (at least you can attempt to peel,it’s almost impossible and I think it doesn’t matter too much if you leave the skin on) the Jerusalem artichokes.  Cut them into pieces and add to the pan.  Again with the lid on,simmer gently for 10 minutes until the Jerusalem artichokes are well cooked through.

3. Then add the stock and the milk and leave to simmer for another 10 minutes.

4. Vigorously blend and you will be surprised how amazingly creamy this soup gets!  (and this without adding any double cream)

5.  Add a splash or two of Noilly Prat to taste

6.  Serve hot garnished with sprinkles of fresh lemon thyme.

I would eat Jerusalem artichokes all day every day as I love the nutty and sweet,artichoke-like taste and am fascinated by the transformation of the ugly duckling into this beautiful,creamy and luscious soup.

BUT.

I will say it with the words of the the English Planter John Goodyer,published at Gerard’s Herbal,printed in 1621.

“which way soever 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.”

Let me assure you without going too much into detail,he has a point here.  This unpleasant after effects are due to the Jerusalem artichokes’high content of inulin, which we can’t digest ourselves and which requires our lovely commensal gut bacteria to put in some extra shifts.

I got the advice to add a pinch of asafoetida to the soup to counteract these unwanted side effects.  Lemon juice,bay leaves and cooking them for a veeeery long time is supposed to help to.  Fact or fiction? We shall see…

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