Globe artichokes

[ancee]

Just been watching Nigel Slater cooking some. He said, they were simple to grow, in fact, he hadn't planted the ones he'd been digging up they'd self-seeded from last year. He roasted them to death so they had crispy chewy caramelised skins and he'd put plenty of salt and lemon on them too. They looked delicious! I've never tried eating or growing them, the only artichoke I've ever eaten was grown and boiled to it's mushy death by my Mother-In-Law and it was ghastly! I know they both are called artichokes, but as one grows on top of the ground and one underneath I wondered if they were the same?
Has anyone grown, cooked or tried these lovely looking veg? I'm very interested!

[ancee]

Oops! Just realised I am actually talking about Jerusalem artichokes!

[rustylady]

No Ancee, globe artichokes and Jerusalem artichokes are two completely different plants.

Guide to growing your own here - Jerusalem artichoke / RHS Gardening

[datz]

Grew them for the first time this year. Very easy to grow, just plant the tubers and forget.
We use them in stews and soups and also are - as Nigel Slater said - fantastic roasted.
Never had any problems with the supposed flatulence issue, but we do eat a lot of pulses and veg so maybe we have some immunity!

[ancee]

Just bought some off the RHS site. Can't wait now - woohoo!

[Chippy Minton]

Make sure you dig them all up, my friend has had them on his allotment for years but only planted them once They really do come up and up and up....

Make lovely soup though

[BertieFox]

Beware! Many of us cannot tolerate Jerusalem artichokes, which are actually 'girasole' or sunflower roots. The 'Jerusalem' is a corruption of 'girasole'. I love the taste and enjoy eating them, but the next day I spend most of the time on the loo! That is because they contain starches which many people cannot digest. If anyone knows a way to prepare them that prevents this, I'd love to know, but we have tried roasted, stewed, boiled and every other method in recipes.

Globe artichokes are a totally different proposition and are delicious, being the leaf buds of a thistle type 'cardoon' plant. They are slightly tender and the roots need protecting over winter by earthing up, but the plants are wonderfully architecturally, and if you collect the heads before they begin to open, the 'fond d'artichaut' or base of the flower, is absolutely delicious with a French mustard sauce.

I think Jerusalem artichokes should be fed to pigs, but globe artichokes kept for gourmet human food!

[Noosner]

Yes, the f*rts produced by these innocent looking veg are splendid! I grow them nonetheless and they are lovely with smoked haddock. Will look up the recipe in a mo and post here. I actually really like the plants as they're very tall. I'm going to try using the dried stalks as canes for the first time this year as they seem so sturdy.

[Noosner]

Here's the artichoke n haddock recipe - it's delish. Smoked haddock & Jerusalem artichoke gratin | BBC Good Food

[BertieFox]

"Yes, the f*rts produced by these innocent looking veg are splendid!"

They do have their funny side, but I'm talking about really nasty diarrhoea which is what they cause to some people. They can make you really ill for a day or so!

All I would advise is that anybody trying them should restrict their intake to relatively little the first time or so, just in case. Almost every year I give them another go thinking I might be able to build up a resistance to their effect, but unfortunately that is not the case!

One man's meat, another man's poison, as they say!

[Bren In Pots]

Alys Fowler says to use Winter savoury when cooking JA's because they help stop them being fartichokes

The Edible Garden - Fartichokes - YouTube

[Vince G]

Grew these for the first time 2 years ago. Made a serious mistake when using them for the first time. I thought I'd make some soup, so found a nice recipe requiring JAs, an onion, some chicken stock, herbs and salt & pepper. Simmered everything in the stock then blitzed it until smooth. It was rather thick, but I'd used 3 times the amount of JAs than was required by the recipe....well I'd dug them up so was going to use them.

It was, and still is, one of the nicest soups I've ever tasted, deeply savoury and yet slightly sweet.

Later that evening the wife and I both felt painfully bloated and much to her amusement (she loves a bit of toilet humour does Mrs Vince) we spent the next couple of hours doing passable impressions of out of tune trombones.

I've never made the mistake again and limit our consumption to 2 or 3 cooked with the roasties / parsnips with a roast.

As regards growing them, we found exactly as people have commented above - once you have them planted, you've got them for good because if you leave even a quarter of a tuber in the ground, it will sprout the next year. However this is not necessarily a bad thing if you find you like them., makes them extremely cheap to produce.

We have a runner/french bean frame made out of old scaffolding poles about the size of a football goal. Despite much tying, the beans refuse to grow up the metal pole, so we have one artichoke at each post which we use for support and for the last 2 years some pieces of tuber have clearly been left behind as we continue to get a good crop every autumn/early winter.

[BertieFox]

As Vince G says, these things are just so good tasting! Especially soup. That is why it is so galling that they are difficult for some of us to digest. And there are so many different vegetables and roots out there that we CAN eat but which taste pretty disgusting. I've tried most of them in my time, including Evening Primrose roots and tuberous rooted dahlias!

[Noosner]

Alys Fowler says to use Winter savoury when cooking JA's because they help stop them being fartichokes

The Edible Garden - Fartichokes - YouTube

I can't play this clip for some reason - but thanks BiP, will research this. It could be the answer as at the mo mr Noosner and I have to avoid polite company after eating these delicious but explosive veg...

[Noosner]

Have just read on tinternet that sage is also good for reducing gale force winds on the Jerusalem artichoke front. And this recipe sounds nice: Pan-Fried Jerusalem Artichokes in Sage Butter - Bon Appétit