Cold-Weather Foraging: Sunchokes (With Pickled Sunchokes and Mushrooms Recipe)

Reader Contribution by Leda Meredith
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Sunchoke, also called Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus) is a native North American root vegetable that is now cultivated on five continents. It is a delicious ingredient raw or cooked. Except when it’s not. With this vegetable, timing is everything.

I’m not sure how the powers that be get cultivated sunchokes to be sweet year-round. But with the wild ones, it’s a different story. Before they’ve gotten the chill treatment from at least a couple of frosts, sunchokes sometimes have a really funky, unpleasant aftertaste. The reason is a starch called inulin. Cold weather or refrigeration turns inulin into fructose, which is why sunchokes taste sweeter after cold weather.

Right now, after a few frosts (in my area at least), wild sunchokes are perfect. At this time of year they’ve got a subtle sweetness that matches the earthy overtones of their flavor. Raw, they are crunchy — something like a cross between jicama and water chestnut — and great on salads. They are also great cooked. Sunchokes cook more quickly than potatoes but can be used in similar ways. And they make interesting pickles.

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