Fruits of the earth: the Jerusalem artichoke
by Berrin Torolsan
Cornucopia 30 In 1773 the great American naturalist William Bartram set out on his travels through the southern colonies of North America to make the first scientific record of the continent’s flora and fauna and its native inhabitants. Today we know the indigenous peoples as Native Americans or Amerindians; in Hollywood westerns they were Red Indians; but to most of eighteenth-century Europe they were simply “savages”. Bartram, however, was remarkable for the respect and open-mindedness with which he approached human beings and the natural world in general. The natives in return embraced him as a friend. The Seminole Indians of Florida called him Puc Puggy – Flower Hunter – and were generous with their help and hospitality. Bartram found tobacco, squash and beans being cultivated on the plains. In the hills, he found potatoes and two kinds of sunflower: Helianthus tuberosus, whose tubers were valued for eating – this is the plant we know today as the Jerusalem artichoke – and Helianthus lenticularis, which was grown for its oil-rich seeds. By this time the potato was already part of the European diet, and the Jerusalem artichoke was appearing on the market under various names – earth puff, Canadian potato or earth apple. When and why it became a Jerusalem artichoke is not certain. True, its delicate taste is close to that of the luxurious globe artichoke. But where did the Jerusalem come from? For a long time it was thought to be a corruption of girasole, the Italian for sunflower, but recently it has been argued that the term predates the first use of the word girasole. A new and somewhat far-fetched suggestion is that the vegetable was introduced to England from Terneusen in Holland and that ‘Jerusalem’ is a corruption of that name. The origin of the Turkish name is less complicated. Yer elmasi means literally ground-apple, though in some places it is still known by the older name of yildiz kökü, or aster root, because of the aster-like golden flowers that appear in early autumn. The flowers are short-lived, but visiting fields where the plants are in full bloom is a joy. (continued) | 
