Artichokes... 'Fart'ichokes

I’m often surprised that more folks aren’t growing Jerusalem Artichoke. It’s a delightfully easy to grow perennial vegetable (and by ‘easy to grow’ I mean- throw some tubers in the ground and get out of the way) that gives you the added bonus of sunny yellow flowers in the summer. They have a nutty, sweet taste and are delicious roasted, yet thanks to their high inulin content they have a very low glycemic index (they won’t cause spikes in blood sugar).

Now, inulin is wonderful for gut health (as a prebiotic, it acts as food for healthy bacteria in the gut) but be warned—too much inulin (especially when your system is not used to it) can have some fairly unpleasant side-effects. Let’s just put it this way—the “beans, beans the musical fruit” song should have been written about Jerusalem artichokes.

Which is why, when I came across an article that touted a “…centuries-old recipe for rendering Jerusalem artichokes fart free…”, I was intrigued. The trick, it seems, is using acidity to counteract the tubers’ notorious effects. The recipe calls for the tubers to be boiled in lemon juice (or vinegar) and then used as desired. The author of this article claims, “Eating a heaping bowl of lemon-boiled sunchokes produced no intestinal after-effects whatsoever.” https://modernfarmer.com/2018/02/jerusalem-artichoke-sunchoke-recipe-prevents-gas/?fbclid=IwAR10L-OpeXg9LdUoEYNBOyCUbHy6CUetYoyx5RPaeLXItaUZ602L7LBkRQE

Since I’ve just harvested some of my Jerusalem artichokes (the best time to harvest is after the frost, but before the ground freezes), I’m excited to give it a try. I’ll spare you the details of my experimentation. 😆