I couldn’t wait any longer – I had to dig up one of my Jerusalem artichokes last week to see how well they had grown. I was absolutely amazed at my harvest. From one tuber planted last spring, I dug up a whole bucket full of little knobbly vegetables, just begging to be turned into tasty soup, or mashed, roasted or sauted. Even after sharing my bounty with bemused neighbours, I still had plenty left to for experimentation. The only problem was the 27 hour power cut which followed, leaving me with lots of peeled and browning chunks of artichoke... (If you are going to peel your artichokes, pop them in some water with the juice of half a lemon to stop them browning too quickly)
Jerusalem artichokes are not related to globe artichokes, and don’t come from Jerusalem – they are in fact members of the sunflower family. It is thought that their name may come from the word, ‘girasole’ which is their name in Italian. They do have an interesting smoky, almost truffly taste, not unlike globe artichokes but as a tuber they are cooked completely differently. You can use them peeled or scrubbed in a variety of recipes where you might use other root vegetables including potatoes. I was attempting to roast them, sprinkled with olive oil, with beetroot when the power went off on Thursday. I did manage at the weekend to make a beautiful soup with leeks, garlic and chicken stock. I strained it through a sieve so it was velvety smooth and added just a dash of cream, so as to not overpower the taste of the artichokes. My guests appeared to like it, though at the time of writing I have not heard if they all survived the alleged downside of artichokes – a rumbly tummy!
The wind-producing powers of artichokes are actually due to their relatively high content of a very useful indigestible carbohydrate called inulin (not insulin). This natural substance preferentially feeds the good bacteria in our gut, meaning it is a ‘prebiotic’. Essentially if you eat more prebiotics than you have good bacteria to eat them, the prebiotics will start to ferment in your gut – hence the gas. The more prebiotics you eat, the more good bacteria your diet can support, so the more will grow – and your health will only benefit in the long term. Thus, adding foods rich in prebiotics to your diet is a great way of improving your gut environment, with positive effects on immune function, mineral absorption and even levels of cholesterol and insulin in the blood. In addition to Jerusalem artichokes, good levels of prebiotics can be found in chicory, garlic, leeks, legumes, asparagus, bananas and other fruit and vegetables.
In theory we can also improve our gut environment by adding probiotics or good bacteria directly to our diet. If you have taken a lot of antibiotics lately and really feel you need to supplement your good bacteria, you may want to go into a good quality healthfood store and ask for a supplement of probiotics, each dose of which contains billions of good bacteria with research to back up its claims – not all good bacteria are the same! Don’t forget - good bacteria are found in fermented foods such natural yoghurt and yoghurt products like kefir ( fermented milk originally from the Caucausus Mountain region) as well as sauerkraut, miso soup and many pickles. These natural unsweetened products are probably a better source of probiotics than the highly-sweetened drinks and yoghurts which are advertised so much lately, especially if you also eat plenty of the prebiotic-containing foods listed above.
Jerusalem artichokes are not related to globe artichokes, and don’t come from Jerusalem – they are in fact members of the sunflower family. It is thought that their name may come from the word, ‘girasole’ which is their name in Italian. They do have an interesting smoky, almost truffly taste, not unlike globe artichokes but as a tuber they are cooked completely differently. You can use them peeled or scrubbed in a variety of recipes where you might use other root vegetables including potatoes. I was attempting to roast them, sprinkled with olive oil, with beetroot when the power went off on Thursday. I did manage at the weekend to make a beautiful soup with leeks, garlic and chicken stock. I strained it through a sieve so it was velvety smooth and added just a dash of cream, so as to not overpower the taste of the artichokes. My guests appeared to like it, though at the time of writing I have not heard if they all survived the alleged downside of artichokes – a rumbly tummy!
The wind-producing powers of artichokes are actually due to their relatively high content of a very useful indigestible carbohydrate called inulin (not insulin). This natural substance preferentially feeds the good bacteria in our gut, meaning it is a ‘prebiotic’. Essentially if you eat more prebiotics than you have good bacteria to eat them, the prebiotics will start to ferment in your gut – hence the gas. The more prebiotics you eat, the more good bacteria your diet can support, so the more will grow – and your health will only benefit in the long term. Thus, adding foods rich in prebiotics to your diet is a great way of improving your gut environment, with positive effects on immune function, mineral absorption and even levels of cholesterol and insulin in the blood. In addition to Jerusalem artichokes, good levels of prebiotics can be found in chicory, garlic, leeks, legumes, asparagus, bananas and other fruit and vegetables.
In theory we can also improve our gut environment by adding probiotics or good bacteria directly to our diet. If you have taken a lot of antibiotics lately and really feel you need to supplement your good bacteria, you may want to go into a good quality healthfood store and ask for a supplement of probiotics, each dose of which contains billions of good bacteria with research to back up its claims – not all good bacteria are the same! Don’t forget - good bacteria are found in fermented foods such natural yoghurt and yoghurt products like kefir ( fermented milk originally from the Caucausus Mountain region) as well as sauerkraut, miso soup and many pickles. These natural unsweetened products are probably a better source of probiotics than the highly-sweetened drinks and yoghurts which are advertised so much lately, especially if you also eat plenty of the prebiotic-containing foods listed above.
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